The  Art  of 
Inventing  Characters 

By 

GEORGES  POLTI 

Author  of 

The  Thirty-six  Dramatic  Situations 

(Translated  by  Lucile  Ray) 


Franklin,  Ohio 

JAMES  KNAPP  REEVE 

1922 


COPYRIGHT,  1922 
JAMES  KNAPP  REEVE 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I  —  SOME  STRANGE  OMISSIONS. 

1  —  Feminine  Types  Yet  Uncharacterized. 

2  —  The  Literature  of  Character. 

3  —  What  is  Permissible? 

CHAPTER  II  —  THE  GREAT  PREJUDICE. 

1  —  Does  "Character  "Exist? 

2  —  The  Non-Existent  Ego. 

3  —  A   Little   Commentary   on   "The   Imitation   of 

Christ." 

CHAPTER  III  — Nor  CHARACTERS,  BUT  ATTITUDES. 

1  —  Attitudes. 

2  —  Roles  and  Occupations ;  Professional  and  Tradi- 

tional Types;  Character-Types;  Characters  More 
Individualized;  Portraits. 

3  —  New  Combinations. 

CHAPTER  IV  —  THE  FOUR  TEMPERAMENTS. 

1  —  The  Systems  to  be  Harmonized. 

2  —  The  Systems  Harmonized  and  Explained. 

3  —  Of  the  Four  Temperaments. 

CHAPTER  V  —  THE  LAW  OF  FOUR-CENTURY  PERIODS. 
(An  Application  of  the  Preceding  Chapter). 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

CHAPTER  VI  —  THE  Six  DIRECTIONS  OF  ENERGY. 

1  —  The   Temperaments   Combined   Two   by   Two, 

Forming  Six  Types. 

2  —  Historic  Tendency  to  General  Groupings  of  Six. 

3  —  Analogous  Groupings  of  Seven  and  Three. 

CHAPTER  VII  —  THE  ART  OF  INVENTION. 

1  —  Pythagoras;  Philosophic  Romanticism. 

2  —  Various  Numerical  Groupings. 

3  —  Discovering  and  Inventing. 

CHAPTER  VIII  — EPIC  AND  TRAGEDY. 

1  —  Homer;  The  Iliad  and  Odyssey. 

2  —  Law  of  Generation  by  Which  Tragedy  Springs 

from  Epic. 

3  —  The  Three  Systems  of  Poetry. 

CHAPTER  IX  —  THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS. 

1  —  A  New  Explanation  of  the  Origin  of  Gods. 

2  —  Heroes,   Eponyms,   Tribes,   Federations,   Patri- 

archs, Peers,  Disciples,  Apostles,  Parts  of  the 
Mass,  Articles  of  the  Creed,  Stones,  Totems, 
Idolatries,  Heresies,  Systems,  Schisms  and 
Nationalities. 

3  —  Geography;  History. 

CHAPTER  X— GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  OF  HUMAN  BEINGS. 

1  —  Plan  of  the  Classification. 

2  —  Classification: 

VESTA:         The  Pious. 
The  Wise. 
The  Faithful. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


JUNO:  The  Jealous. 

The  Vengeful  and  Just. 
The  Strict  and  Severe. 

NEPTUNE :     The  Avaricious  and  Grasping. 
The  Despotic. 
The  Ambitious. 

MINERVA:     The  Daring  and  Romantic. 
Adventurers. 
The  Eloquent  and  Boastful. 

VENUS:         The  Seductive  and  Seducing. 
Courtesans. 
The  Vicious. 

APOLLO:        The  Impassioned. 
The  Chimerical. 
The  Intellectual. 

MERCURY:    The  Shrewd. 

The  Traitorous. 
The  Knavish. 

JUPITER:       The  Arrogant  and  Insolent. 
The  Haughty  and  Dignified. 
The  Majestic  and  Protecting. 

CERES:          The  Generous  and  Prodigal. 
The  Gay  and  Sensual. 
The  Vulgar  and  Practical. 

VULCAN:       The  Earnest  and  Serious. 

The  Deluded  and  Discouraged. 
The  Unselfish  and  Devoted. 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

MARS:  Murderers  and  Assassins. 

The  Violent  and  Rebellious. 
The  Bold  and  Fearless. 

DIANA:         The  Tender  and  Sentimental. 
The  Weak. 
The  Pure. 

3  — The    369   Unpublished    Characters    and    their 
164,980  Varieties. 

CHAPTER  XI  —  A  TREATISE  ON  THE  PROPORTIONS  OF  THE 

HUMAN  SOUL. 
1  —  The  Complete  Soul. 
2 —  From  Without  Inward;  Politics  and  Psychology; 

Theophrastus. 
3  —  St.  Bernard,  St.  Benoit  and  Seneca. 

CHAPTER  XII  —  PERSPECTIVE  m  MATTERS  OP  PSYCHOLOGY 

1  —  Comparative  Perspective. 

2  —  The  Characters  of  Moliere,  Shakespeare,  Plautus, 

Balzac,  etc. 

3  —  Vacancies  to  be  Filled. 

CONCLUSION. 


The  Art  of  Inventing  Characters 

CHAPTER  I 

Some  Strange  Omissions 
I  —  FEMININE  TYPES  YET  UNCHARACTERIZED 

"Woman,"  said  the  great  Goethe  to  Eckermann 
one  afternoon,  resting  his  cup  of  Rhine  wine  on  the 
table,  "Woman  is  the  sole  remaining  object  upon 
which  we  may  pour  out  our  ideality.  As  to  men, 
there  is  nothing  more  to  be  done.  Homer  has 
taken  them  all." 

Our  moderns,  nevertheless,  are  yet  far  from 
taking  possession  of  the  new  world  thus  pointed 
out  on  the  horizon  by  our  Father  of  Weimar.  The 
student  of  the  literature  of  character,  even  the  most 
recent,  invariably  turns  from  it  disappointed  to 
find  it  so  poorly  balanced  that,  while  surcharged 
with  varied  masculine  types,  carefully  drawn  and 
distinct,  it  presents  hardly  a  feminine  character 
in  the  least  degree  original  and  unforeseen.  And 
his  justifiable  disappointment  condemns  us.  Will 
neither  novels  nor  plays,  neither  the  writings  of 
moralists,  the  greatest  of  epics,  the  most  piquant 
of  memoirs — even  when  written  by  women  or  by 
specialists  in  feminism — will  they  never  cease  to 
exhibit  this  shameful  poverty? 


12  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

In  explanation  of  "it,  certainly,  several  theories 
exist.  There  are  always  theories  with  which  to 
excuse  our  failures.  But  a  following  up  of  the 
present  inquiry  will,  better  than  idle  discussion, 
effectually  destroy  this  supposed  resemblance  of 
all  women  to  one  another,  —  this  classification 
according  to  the  merely  sexual  aspects  of  their 
life;  maidens,  sweethearts,  wives,  mothers,  etc. 
Truly  an  easy  simplification,  but  one  which  in 
reality  denotes,  on  the  part  of  the  author  making 
use  of  it,  a  field  of  vision  limited  by  a  state  of 
erotic  obsession.  .  .  .Take  a  turn  in  the  air, 
my  dear  sir,  and  return  refreshed  to  pursue  the  pres- 
ent study!  You  have  been  too  greatly  occupied 
by  their  femininity  to  be  able  to  see  them  as  com- 
plete individuals  (and  by  this  I  mean  from  foot  TO 
HEAD,  of  which  they  have,  believe  me,  quite  as 
much  as  you) ! 

Let  us  imagine  for  a  moment  a  new  Amazonate, 
wherein  the  blue-stockings,  monopolizing  literature, 
in  their  turn  do  not  deign  —  filled  with  pride  and 
selfish  desire  —  to  consider  anything  in  man  except 
their  sexual  ideal.  Many  a  physiognomy  in  our 
eyes  marvelous,  would  in  theirs,  fixed  upon 
shapely  limbs  or  graceful  elegance,  lose  all  its  glory, 
and  the  figures  of  athletes  or  of  handsome  pages 
would  soon  eclipse  the  profiles,  to  us  so  distinct,  of 
Hamlet,  of  Ulysses,  of  Job,  of  Newton,  of  Boni- 
face VIII  or  of  Junius  Brutus. 


SOME  STRANGE  OMISSIONS  13 

A  view  so  imperfect  (and  of  which  the  symptoms 
may  perhaps  be  diagnosed  in  more  than  one 
feminine  romance)  would  however  be  justified  by 
a  social  state.  Thus  that  of  the  antique  city 
explains  the  small  number  of  its  feminine  crea- 
tions. Antigone  was  the  ideal  Daughter,  Electra, 
the  Sister,  Alceste  and  Penelope  represent  the 
Wife,  near  at  hand  or  far  away  during  absence,  war 
and  labors.  In  Andromache  was  incarnated  the 
Young  Mother ;  Hecuba  and  Jocaste  represent  the 
Aged  Mother  and  her  griefs;  Helen  realized  the 
Inconstant  Beauty,  Medea  the  Dangerous  Mis- 
tress, and  Ariadne  the  Sacrificed.  For  woman,  in 
whatever  was  not  relative  to  man,  had  no  place  in 
that  literature  of  the  agora,  —  civic  tragedy,  epic 
chanted  in  the  public  square,  history  recited  to 
the  four  winds,  lyricism  dedicated  to  gymnasts, 
philosophy  of  gardens  and  banquets.  But  we, 
who  for  a  century  have  so  presumptuously  claimed 
the  creation  of  a  literature  of  the  soul,  of  the  indi- 
vidual, of  the  home;  we  who  see  women  mingling 
in  all  things,  sharing  all  activities,  —  truly  we  are 
inexcusable ! 

And  we  are  duly  punished.  Note,  in  brief,  this 
principle,  which  we  shall  verify  more  than  once 
in  the  course  of  the  book ;  poverty  of  subdivision  of 
a  general  type  brings  about  a  poverty  rigorously 
proportionate  in  the  elements  which  in  turn  com- 
pose each  individual  type. 


14  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Each  new  character,  once  drawn  in  literature, 
represents  a  veritable  discovery,  in  the  scientific 
sense  of  the  word,  in  that  it  brings  to  light  a  latent 
and  heretofore  unfamiliar  part  of  our  soul,  of 
which  we  become  conscious  in  the  suddenly 
aroused  interest;  a  conquest  wrested  by  our  con- 
sciousness, aided  by  this  example,  from  the  sub- 
conscious wherein  it  stirs  as  deeply  buried  as 
within  an  animal.  From  the  day,  then,  when  in 
the  above  hypothesis  we  ceased  to  distinguish 
between  Hamlet  and  Job,  we  should  already  have 
ceased  to  discern  in  the  former  his  catholic  con- 
science, his  tendency  to  dreaming,  etc.,  and,  in 
the  Arab,  his  patience,  the  unshakeable  firmness  of 
his  faith,  and  so  forth,  perceiving  in  them  only 
those  points  which  they  have  in  common,  —  their 
lack  of  eroticism,  among  others.  And  thus  a 
corresponding  confusion  would  reign  anew  among 
the  inward  faculties  of  each  human  being  of  the 
time. 

Now,  absurd  and  humiliating  as  such  a  confu- 
sion may  appear  to  us,  we  tolerate  in  ourselves 
one  precisely  similar  with  respect  to  the  very  many 
women  whom  we  classify  merely  as  "cold"  and 
"mystic".  Need  we  be  surprised,  after  this,  if, 
in  all  women,  each  one  of  whom  might  personify  a 
special  region  and  clearly  illustrate  it  for  us,  we 
find  ourselves  inevitably  arrested  at  some  time  by 
the  incomprehensible,  upon  the  frontier  of  a 


SOME  STRANGE  OMISSIONS  15 

strange  country  inaccessible  to  our  logic,  or,  if 
you  will,  to  our  consciousness,  which  is  the  author 
of  its  own  defeat.  And  as  love  alone  —  which  is 
to  say  the  inconscient  —  can  serve  us  as  guide, 
however  hazardous  a  one,  we  do  not  hesitate  to 
test  it. 

A  consequence  still  more  serious:  to  forget,  to 
refuse  to  understand  this  or  that  type  of  woman, 
because  not  amorous,  is  to  condemn  ourselves  to 
an  ignorance  of  almost  all  women,  outside  their 
compliant  but  servile,  fugitive  and  uncertain 
dependence  upon  ourselves;  it  is  to  condemn 
ourselves  furthermore  to  an  ignorance  and  mis- 
understanding, not  only  of  half  of  the  human  race, 
but  of  HALF  OF  OUR  OWN  INDIVIDUALITY.  For 
every  man  has  within  him,  morally,  the  femi- 
nine character  complete,  neglected  and  believed 
by  him  annihilated  at  the  time  of  puberty,  hidden 
in  a  shadow  rich  in  reality  with  inexplicable  reve- 
lations, just  as,  on  the  other  hand,  every  woman 
possesses  also  the  male  character.  (How  else 
would  it  be  possible  for  the  father  to  bequeath  to 
the  daughter,  and  the  mother  to  the  son,  a  portion, 
sometimes  so  considerable,  of  their  characters, 
while  nevertheless  the  masculine  and  feminine 
types  do  not  become  less  distinct?) 

Again,  a  cause  of  the  silence  to  which  antique 
society  reduced  woman  might  be  found  in  the 


16  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

nature  of  each  man,  as  it  is  even  yet  found  in  those 
(otherwise  often  beautiful  and  strong)  of  the 
Moslem,  the  Buddhist,  the  polytheist,  —  of  the 
non-Christian,  to  use  a  general  term,  for  the 
Hindu,  the  Persian,  the  Chinese  or  Malay  cannot 
be  called  uncivilized.  Man,  then,  was  a  Citizen 
or  a  Subject;  he  was  not  a  Soul,  in  the  absolute 
sense  of  the  word,  separate  and  complete.  Even 
when  such  a  man  loved  a  woman,  he  showed,  in 
consequence  of  the  contrast  between  the  radiation 
of  his  pride  and  his  blindness  toward  her,  a  sort  of 
pederasty,  —  an  idolatry  of  Passion,  a  monologue 
before  Flesh.  He  fell  upon  and  assaulted  her;  he 
never  contemplated  her  fairly  face  to  face. 

Whether  one  regrets  or  commends  the  change 
everywhere  inaugurated  by  Christianity,  the  OTHER 
BEING,  freed  from  the  oppression  hereditary  since 
the  "fall,"  has  begun  to  speak  in  our  hearts,  and, 
we  must  admit,  more  clearly  from  century  to 
century.  It  is  this  dialogue  in  us  which  we  hear 
in  the  Sacred  Writings,  in  the  greatest  of  poets 
and  the  profoundest  of  philosophers.  From  this 
dualism  vainly  proscribed  —  and  which  Nature, 
one  might  say,  has  symbolized  in  the  symmetry 
of  the  two  halves  of  our  bodies  as  divided  by  a 
perpendicular  line  —  result  the  many  disconcert- 
ing contradictions  of  our  conduct,  the  perversions 
of  our  will,  the  antinomies  over  which  Racine 
wept,  by  which  Poe  was  fascinated,  from  which 


17 

Hegel  reasoned.  And  the  "mauvais  menage" 
wherein  each  of  us  contends  with  himself,  results 
from  the  persistence  of  our  vanity  in  its  ignorance, 
or  rather  its  indolence  in  the  interpretation  of 
one-half  of  the  human  race. 

Shall  we  not  attempt  it? 


This  will  be,  however,  but  a  beginning.  For, 
equilibrium  once  re-established  between  the  sexes, 
we  shall  be  led  to  re-establish  it  between  the  divers 
types  of  our  own.  We  cannot  sufficiently  wonder 
at  the  lacunae  which,  from  this  point  of  view  also, 
literature  presents,  and  at  the  great  number  of 
characters  encountered  in  life,  whose  portraits 
we  never  meet  in  books  or  upon  the  stage.  To 
assure  himself  of  this,  the  reader  need  but  enum- 
erate his  relatives  and  friends,  for  example,  defin- 
ing them  with  the  precision  for  which  he  will  here 
find  the  means. 

II  —THE  LITERATURE  OF  CHARACTER 

No  epoch  heretofore  has  appreciated  so  highly 
as  our  own  the  art  of  character-drawing.  The  merit 
which  the  Romantic  school  attributed  to  the 
invention,  most  illusory  after  all,  of  subjects  and 
"situations,"  the  Realist  school  has  since  trans- 
ferred to  the  invention,  — the  "creation,"  to  use 
the  current  word,  —  of  characters. 


18  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

These,  extracted  from  surrounding  life  by  means 
of  a  mysterious  chemistry,  then  condensed  by 
skilful  syntheses,  should  illustrate  social  studies 
in  brilliant  genre-pictures,  in  the  way  in  which 
"Romantic"  plots  have  been  credited  with  embody- 
ing those  reconstitutions  of  history  recently  pro- 
moted to  the  dignity  of  a  "new  science." 

In  emulation,  we  have  come,  on  our  side,  to 
reserve  the  title  of  "creative  genius"  for  the 
author  of  a  great  number  of  well-defined  characters ; 
this  is  the  reason  for  the  special  veneration  we 
profess  for  Homer,  Shakespeare,  Moliere,  Balzac 
and  Zola  (the  latter  nevertheless  so  weak  and  so 
little  varied  in  his  drawings  of  women). 

The  classic  writers,  indeed,  did  not  think  as 
we  do.  Even  the  fathers  of  the  drama  and  of 
modern  realism  refused  any  pre-eminence  of 
psychology.  "It  is  for  the  situations"  declares 
Diderot  positively,  "to  decide  the  characters.  The 
plan  of  a  drama  may  be  drawn,  and  well  drawn, 
before  the  poet  knows  anything  of  the  character 
he  will  give  to  his  personages."  And  Beaumar- 
chais  acknowledged,  for  his  part,  that  the  choice 
of  characters  was,  in  his  plays,  determined  by  the 
necessities  of  the  plot.  These  revolutionaries  thus 
confirm,  in  their  modesty  and  sincerity,  the  enor- 
mous experience  condensed  in  the  Aristotelian 
"Poetics."  "Action  is  the  object  of  tragedy.  .  . 


SOME  STRANGE  OMISSIONS  19 

Without  action  there  can  be  no  tragedy.  There 
may  be  one  without  morals.  .  .  To  develop  a 
moral  is  not  to  create  a  tragedy,"  etc. 

Besides,  the  founders  of  realism  gave  them- 
selves no  illusions  as  to  the  small  number  of 
characters.  The  same  Diderot,  after  Voltaire, 
could  discover  —  albeit  with  a  somewhat  super- 
ficial look  —  only  a  dozen  more  or  less,  he  assures 
us.  (For  in  those  happy  days  of  "elegant" 
literature,  one  did  not  pass  for  a  chimerical  soul, 
an  occultist,  if  one  ventured  to  introduce  into  the 
prevailing  mental  confusion  the  luminous  preci- 
sion of  arithmetic.) 

The  classic  authors?  They  ingenuously  de- 
manded from  legend  and  tradition  not  only  the 
stories,  but  the  heroes  ready-made.  They  bor- 
rowed them  and  bequeathed  them  to  one  another 
with  the  generosity  of  indifference,  the  merit 
consisting  far  more,  in  their  eyes,  in  a  presenta- 
tion, a  perspective  which  brought  in  evidence 
some  aspect  until  then  imperfectly  seen,  —  and 
above  all,  in  another  and  better  harmony  of  com- 
position shown  throughout  the  entire  work,  even 
to  its  humblest  details.  They  well  knew,  these 
great  originals,  that  one  does  not  create  new 
characters,  only  situations,  plots,  —  or  symbols. 

If  I  have  been  able  to  reduce  to  about  thirty-six 
-the  figure  given  by  Gozzi,  Goethe  and  Schiller 


20 

—  the  number  of  Dramatic  Situations,  it  should 
be  still  easier  to  show  exactly  the  limited  number 
of  creatures  who  compose  our  swarming  humanity. 
However,  such  a  simplification  is  much  less  the 
object  of  the  present  inquiry  —  since  it  would 
increase  the  actual  poverty  —  than  is  the  remedy- 
ing of  that  poverty  by  drawing  from  precisely  this 
simplification  a  method  for  multiplying  elements 
in   infinite   combinations.     I  shall   give   but   the 
method ;  it  will  convince  only  those  minds  desirous 
of  applying  it.     But  I  shall  furnish  successively 
tangible  and  living  results  in  a  multitude  of  figures 

—  exactly  12,915  —  which  are  admittedly  unpub- 
lished and  newly  characterized. 

Let  them  hasten  and  group  themselves,  to 
satisfy  first  of  all  that  desire  for  "new  characters" 
which  torments  thee,  O  contemporary  reader! 

How  symptomatic  it  is,  this  desire! 

Perhaps  it  tends  to  found  a  form  of  literature 
which  shall  be  chiefly  devoted  to  the  representa- 
tion of  character.  For  it  must  be  recognized, 
despite  what  we  hear  repeated  and  re-echoed, 
such  a  form  has  never  yet  existed. 

The  theatre?  By  virtue  of  its  visual  destina- 
tion and  its  gestures,  it  is  obviously  better  suited 
to  the  representation  of  action  than  of  character 
or  even  morals.  Comedy  itself,  although  its  less 
ominous  gestures  have  a  less  hypnotizing  effect, 


SOME  STRANGE  OMISSIONS  21 

has  flourished,  and  widely,  before  this  learned 
character-drawing  was  thought  of,  and  its  merriest 
form,  and  consequently  the  most  personal,  has 
continued  to  live,  and  prospers  more  than  ever,  in 
opposition  to  the  comedy  of  character  once  con- 
ceived by  Menander.  The  latter  has  never  consti- 
tuted more  than  a  special  branch,  —  precisely 
that  whose  incessantly  but  vainly  renewed  springs 
(romantic  substitutions,  the  call  of  the  blood, 
theses,  etc.)  grate  the  more  at  each  turn  of  the 
action,  and  characters  superpose  themselves  in 
unpleasant  fashion,  as  a  superb  but  misplaced 
display,  upon  the  supple  steel  of  comic  plot,  which 
remains  the  indispensable,  the  essential. 

The  novel?  Besides  its  formless  aspect,  since 
it  no  longer  follows  the  outlines  of  the  epic,  fiction 
has  always,  by  virtue  of  its  redundancy  of  wordy 
detail,  better  presented  morals  than  characters. 

To  these  the  epic,  the  novel  of  more  vigorous 
ages,  assuredly  offers  a  place  which,  albeit  second- 
ary, is  yet  broader.  The  epic,  in  short,  approxi- 
mates the  story  which  offers,  in  a  conventional  and 
abstract  light,  its  "portraits" — from  which  we 
need  only  remove  the  proper  names  and  dates  to 
make  of  them  but  general  sketches,  worthy  of 
being  signed  by  La  Bruydre. 

He  thought  to  continue  Theophrastus.  But, 
instead  of  a  Menander,  he  produced  but  a  Des- 


22  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

touches.  Not  that  he  has,  in  reality,  augmented 
the  catalog  of  his  predecessor ;  far  from  it !  He  has, 
notably,  enriched  to  excess  all  that  concerns 
worldly  vanity,  which  passion  alone  fills  more  than 
four-fifths  of  his  book,  so  surprisingly  meager 
otherwise,  as  to  violence  (one  example),  lust 
(almost  nothing),  ingenuity,  etc.  The  list  of  his 
characters  represents  but  the  merest  fraction  of 
our  psychological  world-map. 

To  complete  it  we  must  resume  the  plan,  much 
more  comprehensive,  simpler  and  more  profound, 
of  the  great  Theophrastus.  He  commenced,  it  is 
said,  at  the  age  of  ninety-nine  years,  his  admirable 
book,  the  result  not  only  of  a  philosophic  system 
(derived  from  Aristotle)  but  of  a  century  of  per- 
sonal observation.  From  it,  indeed,  we  may  see 
spring,  fully  armed,  the  New  Comedy. 

The  plays  of  Menander  are  unfortunately 
almost  entirely  destroyed,  and,  despite  the  frag- 
ments recently  recovered,  the  secrets  of  creation 
which  their  ensemble  would  have  imparted  to  us, 
by  comparison  with  the  book  of  Theophrastus, 
can  be  obtained  only  in  a  slight  degree  by  following 
the  figurines  of  La  Bruyere  in  the  Comedy  of 
Character  of  the  eighteenth  century,  trivially 
argumentative,  narrow  and  automatic.  It  may 
likewise  be  interesting  to  infer  what  the  Homme 
de  Cour  promised  by  Moliere  as  his  CHEF  D'OEUVRE 


SOME  STRANGE  OMISSIONS  23 

would  have  been,   in  contemplating  his  famous 
"portraits"  of  the  Misanthrope. 

Moreover,  the  maker  of  "portraits"  precedes,  in 
literary  history,  but  secondary  comedy,  the  comedy 
of  character,  and,  coming  always  after  tragedy, 
already  overflowing  with  varied  and  powerful 
characters,  he  does  not  sufficiently  explain  to  us 
the  genesis  of  these.  And  before  them  we  find  the 
true  Moralists.  The  Gnomics  and  Pythagoras 
usher  in  the  Greek  theater.  A  Montaigne  and  a 
Thomas  Aquinas  by  the  Council  of  Trent  influence 
Shakespeare,  and  Rochefoucauld,  Charron,  Nicole, 
Pascal,  find  themselves  again  upon  the  stage,  comic 
or  tragic,  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  its  second 
half,  like  the  imperious  Ignatius  Loyola  in  Corneille. 

How  does  this  transfer  take  place? 

We  see  it  operate  in  the  bosom  of  a  family,  and 
perhaps  simply  of  a  man,  with  Seneca  or  the 
Senecas.  The  better  yet  to  follow  it,  let  us  take 
Plutarch;  a  moralist,  does  he  not  detail  to  us,  bit 
by  bit,  in  sage  reflections,  even  in  anecdotes,  each 
of  the  characters  which  he  has  during  his  life 
studied  or  imagined  (which  is  the  same  thing)? 
See  him  arrange  before  us,  with  his  famous  parallel 
biographies,  Caesar-Alexander  or  the  Ambitious, 
Cicero-Demosthenes  or  the  Liberal  Orator, 
Demetrius-Antony  or  the  Voluptuous  Com- 
mander, Aristides-Cato  or  the  Earnest  Thinker, 


24  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

etc.  And,  as  for  portraits,  all  history  subse- 
quently will  proceed  from  him;  a  Janssen,  a  Taine, 
a  Mommsen  clearly  work  in  the  same  way. 

This  machine,  built  wheel  by  wheel,  sentence  by 
sentence,  by  the  Moralist,  and  elevated  by  the 
Historian,  the  Dramatic  Author,  laying  his  analy- 
sis back  in  its  box,  has  but  to  set  in  motion.  The 
man  anatomically  studied,  then  defined,  drawn 
and  reconstructed,  he  has  but  to  make  move  before 
our  eyes,  and  behold!  a  new  character  upon  the 
stage.  Shakespeare  and  Corneille  have  not  done 
otherwise. 

Ill  —  Is  IT  PERMISSIBLE? 

They  are  wrong,  it  appears!  Menander  was 
wrong  to  elaborate  Theophrastus,  and  Schiller  in 
being  guided  by  Kant.  And  Kant  and  La  Bru- 
yere,  Mommsen  and  Plutarch  and  Theophrastus 
sinned  in  endeavoring  to  draw  portrait  types; 
Emerson,  consequently,  was  equally  in  error.  For 
the  science  of  character  can  have  no  existence.  It 
should  have  none  —  our  modern  pedants  having 
so  decreed.  "There  is  no  science  of  the  individ- 
ual," they  declare. 

Nothing  can  be  more  pathetic,  surely,  than  the 
survival  in  them,  so  naively  expressed,  of  mediae- 
val realism.  According  to  all  evidence,  these 
folk  still  believe  that  there  is  something  else  than 
the  individual.  They  believe,  evidently,  that  the 


SOME  STRANGE  OMISSIONS  25 

abstract  Horse  exists  independently  of  this  or  that 
horse  on  earth,  and  the  ideal  Hat  beyond  all  hats, 
taken  one  by  one. 

Let  the  reader  be  reassured.  We  shall  enter 
upon  no  argument  with  these  descendants  of  the 
Scholastics.  For  us  it  suffices  that  the  "Agnes"  of 
Moliere  is  distinguished  clearly  enough  from 
Catherine  de  Medici,  for  example,  that  we  believe 
ourselves  right  in  studying  separately  their  respec- 
tive features.  And  since  they  are  no  more  to  be 
confused  than  are  a  sprig  of  parsley  and  a  sprig  of 
hemlock,  we  have  the  right  to  regard  them  as  two 
physiognomies  of  a  difference  which  may  well  be 
utilized  with  a  view  to  a  classification  or  arrange- 
ment most  fecund,  and  which  touches  us  more 
closely  than  any  other. 

To  speak  plainly,  moreover,  no  classification, 
even  scientific,  has  reality.  It  is  ingenious,  cer- 
tainly, to  have  chosen  the  flower  by  which  to 
classify  botanic  species,  or  the  bony  structure 
(instead,  this  time,  of  the  sex)  to  distribute  those 
of  the  animal  species  who  have  bones  (which  have 
permitted  even  the  least  intelligent  of  them  to 
approximate  man,  to  his  great  surprise)  —  this  is 
highly  ingenious  but  unassailable.  A  classifica- 
tion is  but  a  lingo,  a  catalog  analogous  to  that 
which,  according  to  the  pretty  legend,  Adam  made 
of  the  countless  varieties  of  fauna  and  flora  in  the 


'  26  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Garden  of  Eden.  But  Babel  has  since  prevailed, 
and  to  its  confusion  our  methods  periodically 
return.  Cuvier,  although  he  has  not  yet  con- 
stituted the  definitive  table  of  zoology,  has  none 
the  less  drawn  from  his  a  method  more  fecund 
than  many  of  our  contemporaries  are  able  to 
draw  from  systems  stricter  yet  equally  transitory. 

It  must  be  admitted,  nevertheless,  that  the 
connoisseur  of  human  souls  may,  without  being 
taxed  with  indolence,  shrink  from  the  classifi- 
cations offered  concurrently  by  the  various  phi- 
losophers who  have  attempted  the  problem. 

Shall  he  adopt  the  ternary  method  of  Ribot,  or 
shall  he  fall  back,  with  Fouillee,  u;pon  the  ancient 
Temperaments,  labelled  with  these  new  names: 
Sensitive,  of  prompt  reaction  (the  Sanguine) ; 
Sensitive,  of  intense  reaction  (the  Nervous),  etc. 
which  render  less  humiliating  to  him,  in  the 
universal  progress  in  which  we  live,  this  little 
return  to  the  past?  Shall  he  pretend,  with 
Paulhan,  to  separate  clearly  unsound  minds  from 
others,  the  sheep  on  one  side,  the  goats  on  the 
other?  Shall  he,  still  stricter,  exclude,  with  Ribot, 
from  all  classification  the  "amorphous"  and  the 
"unstable"  (the  PAPILLONNE  of  Fourier  still  dis- 
quieting the  minds  of  our  philosophers)  ?  Shall  he 
rather  listen  to  Azan,  Le  Bon,  Perez,  Seeland, 
Payot? 


SOME  STRANGE  OMISSIONS  27 

He  will  feel  himself,  with  their  treatises  in  hand, 
all  the  more  perplexed  before  Life  and  its  image, 
Literature,  in  that  these  masters,  soaring  in 
alcanian  spheres,  do  not  in  any  case  deign  to  cite, 
in  their  volumes,  more  than  half  a  hundred 
examples.  Moreover,  these  names  are  always  the 
same;  Napoleon  alone  invariably  appears  a  good 
fifteen  times  (despite  the  contempt  for  ideologists 
of  this  conqueror,  so  little  complex  of  soul).  Can 
one  imagine  a  course  of  botany  at  the  end  of 
which  the  poor  student  has  not  heard  named  more 
than  fifty  plants,  no  more  unfamiliar  than  the 
cabbage,  the  rose,  the  chestnut?  He  will  be  little 
the  wiser  for  having,  in  compensation,  heard 
abundantly  the  primary  banalities  of  twenty 
other  sciences!  Let  us  recognize  that  the  scien- 
tists have  done  well  to  themselves  classify  the 
myriad  beings  with  whom  their  respective  realms 
are  occupied,  without  awaiting  the  work  of  the 
philosophers,  and  respectfully  but  firmly  to  shut 
the  door  in  their  faces. 

Even  as  these  investigators  of  visible  and  pon- 
derable nature  have  rid  themselves  of  the  fanciful 
so-called  Physicists  of  former  times,  so  today  must 
our  scientists  of  the  human  heart  reject  the  would- 
be  philosopher-psychologists.  By  ' 'scientists  of 
the  human  heart"  I  regret  to  add  that  I  do  not 
mean  the  physiologists,  whose  studies  of  the 
nervous  system  are  very  interesting,  but  stop, 


28  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

unfortunately,  at  a  point  of  view  at  least  as  external 
to  our  true  subject,  and  consequently  as  superficial 
as  were,  to  the  future  thermo-dynamics,  the 
naive  exclamations  of  the  RlG-VEDA. 

There  is  no  question  here  of  those  eternal 
"faculties  of  man"  in  general — those  imaginary 
entities  —  nor  of  laboratory  studies  whose  incer- 
titude with  respect  to  practice  exceeds  that  of 
meteorology — but  simply  of  the  Human  Heart, 
which  is  to  say,  of  precisely  that  which  is  most 
individual  in  humble  man.  Anatomists  and 
alcanians  will  not  deign  to  consider,  of  course,  a 
thing  so  small,  so  trivial,  so  wretchedly  literary. 
Happily  for  us,  a  thousand  geniuses  have  not 
shared  the  disdain  of  these  excessive  generalizers, 
and  they  have  devoted  themselves  to  exploring 
this  poor  thing,  thereby  losing,  it  is  true,  some- 
times their  happiness,  and,  according  to  the  cus- 
tom of  inventors,  even  their  lives. 

Also,  by  "scientists  of  the  heart"  these  must  be 
understood:  dramatists,  historians,  novelists  (real- 
ist or  not),  moralists,  confessors,  lyrists,  perspica- 
cious biographers,  old  epic  poets,  theologians, 
casuists,  story-tellers.  Their  innumerable  and 
often  minute  analyses  make  of  a  library,  even  a 
limited  one,  a  treasure  most  extraordinary,  —  this 
verse  of  Verlaine  or  of  Sappho,  that  dialog  of  Job 
or  of  Philoctetes  offering  more  facets,  skilfully  cut, 


SOME  STRANGE  OMISSIONS  29 

of  the  human  soul,  than  have  ever  been  observed 
in  any  laboratory.  It  is  only  necessary  to  organ- 
ize this  formidable  science,  —  the  only  one  in 
which  all  civilizations  have  labored,  —  and  for 
this  purpose,  in  the  first  place,  to  gather  all  these 
together  and  set  them  in  order. 


The  Great  Prejudice 

CHAPTER  II 

"What  means  then,  less  deceptive  than  those 
proposed  by  the  philosophers  and  psychologists, 
do  you  bring  us,  rash  author,  for  classifying, 
separating,  defining,  labelling  human  characters?" 

None.  And  this  for  the  reason  that  such  a 
means  cannot  exist.  For 

I  —  THERE  ARE  No  CHARACTERS 

Listen  to  the  admission  which  escapes  from 
the  author  of  "Characters"  himself: 

"Men  have  no  character,  or,  if  they  have,  it 
consists  in  having  none  which  is  constant,  which 
does  not  belie  itself,  and  in  which  they  are  always 

recognizable They  have  opposing 

passions  and  contradictory  failings;  it  is  easier 
for  them  to  unite  extremes  than  to  have  a  con- 
duct one  part  of  which  springs  naturally  from 
another." 

What!  All  "unstable"  to  use  the  philosophic 
jargon  of  the  day,  and  to  be  rejected,  as  a  natural 
consequence,  by  the  most  celebrated  contemporary 
classifications ! 

"But,"  it  is  explained,  "La  Bruyere  let  this 
cry  escape  but  in  a  moment  of  discouragement; 


THE  GREAT  PREJUDICE  31 

does  not  his  undertaking  itself  bear  witness  that 
such  was  not  his  opinion?" 

It  bears  eloquent  witness,  on  the  contrary,  to 
the  sincerity  and  also  the  truth  of  this  passage- 
Amusingly  and  exclusively  ''characteristic,"  his 
figurines  are  not  humanly  complete.  Compare, 
if  you  doubt  it,  the  too  logical  Onuphre  with 
Tartuffe,  who  contradicts  himself  so  well!  The 
silhouettes  of  our  moralist  move  too  automati- 
cally; we  do  not  see  their  breasts  heave  with  the 
respiration  of  universal  life.  We  cannot  turn 
one  of  them  around  without  perceiving  artifice. 

The  drawing  of  a  character  is  made,  necessarily, 
from  a  fixed  point,  and  the  conception  of  it  remains 
relative.  Sylla,  to  us  a  monster,  shines  in  the 
German  histories,  and  Robespierre,  before  whom 
our  greybeards  palpitate  with  admiration,  appears 
to  the  disciples  of  Taine  but  a  vain  and  heartless 
pawn.  But  let  us  take,  from  La  Bruyere  himself, 
one  of  his  portraits  at  random : 

Irene  repairs  at  great  expense  to  Epidaurus, 
sees  Aesculapius  in  his  temple  and  consults  him 
on  her  ills.  First  she  complains  that  she  is  tired 
and  spent  with  fatigue,  and  the  god  declares  that 
this  comes  from  the  length  of  the  journey  she 
has  made ;  she  says  that  in  the  evening  she  has  no 
appetite,  — the  oracle  orders  that  she  dine  lightly; 
she  adds  that  she  is  subject  to  insomnia,  and  he 


32  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

advises  her  not  to  remain  in  bed  except  during 
the  night;  she  asks  him  why  she  feels  dull,  and 
what  is  the  remedy,  —  the  oracle  replies  that  she 
should  rise  before  noon  and  should  occasionally 
walk;  she  tells  him  wine  disagrees  with  her,  — he 
tells  her  to  drink  water;  that  she  has  indigestion, 
—  he  advises  her  to  diet;  "my  sight  is  failing," 
says  Irene, — "use  glasses"  says  Aesculapius; 
"I  myself  am  failing"  she  continues,  "I  am  neither 
so  strong  nor  so  healthy  as  I  was,"  -  "that" 
says  the  god,  "is  because  you  are  growing  older." 
"But  how  can  this  languor  be  cured?"  "The 
shortest  way,  Irene,  is  to  die,  as  your  mother  and 
grandmother  have  done."  "Son  of  Apollo,"  cries 
Irene,  "what  counsel  are  you  giving  me?  Is  this 
all  of  that  science  which  men  proclaim,  and  which 
makes  you  revered  the  world  over?  What  are 
you  telling  me  which  is  rare  or  mysterious?  Did 
I  not  already  know  all  these  remedies  you  are 
recommending?"  "Why,  then,  did  you  not  use 
them,"  replies  the  god,  "without  coming  so  far 
to  see  me,  and  shortening  your  days  by  the  fatigue 
of  a  long  journey?" 

Most  malicious,  but  most  exact  as  a  portrait, 
and  most  particular,  is  it  not?  Are  not  all  the 
character's  little  weaknesses  presented  completely 
as  complacently?  It  is  Madame  de  Montespan 
who  is  the  subject. 


THE  GREAT  PREJUDICE  33 

At  this  name  there  come  to  mind  other  "char- 
acters" which  might  as  legitimately  be  drawn 
from  her; — the  extravagantly  ambitious,  the 
intemperate  of  speech,  so  ready  with  insult,  the 
devotee  of  black  masses,  etc. 

No,  the  character  does  not  exist  any  more  than 
an  exact  portrait  exists  in  painting.  So  many 
painters,  so  many  colors,  so  many  expressions,  so 
many  lines,  even  in  each  feature  of  the  model! 
While  as  to  photography,  it  is  —  as  has  been 
scientifically  demonstrated  to  those  aberrants  who 
do  not  see  it  with  their  own  eyes  —  the  worst  of 
lies. 

And  if  "there  are  no  characters"  it  follows 
naturally  that 

II  —  THE  SELF  DOES  Nor  EXIST 

The  self  is  but  a  formidable  suggestion.  The 
child  is  taught  this  false  idea  in  exactly  the  same 
way  in  which  a  dog  is  taught  to  answer  to  a  name, 
or,  what  comes  to  the  same  thing,  to  a  certain 
whistle  or  blow  of  the  whip,  even  to  the  point 
of  responding  to  it  by  the  most  dangerous  and 
painful  feats.  This  blow  of  the  whip  —  impera- 
tive and  categorical — or  its  acoustic  imitation, 
the  whistle  or  call  to  a  slave,  has  later  been  modi- 
fied for  each  of  us  in  a  particular  fashion,  and  one 


34  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

so  much  the  more  personally  menacing,  in  the 
Name,  that  corner-stone,  if  I  may  now  change 
the  image,  of  the  "I."  The  Name,  first  of  the 
orders  which  the  poor  human  being  receives,  will 
be  the  source  of  all  the  others,  and  the  Name  will 
dominate  our  whole  existence. 

At  bottom,  we  so  well  feel  the  artificial  origin 
of  the  "self"  that  we  admit  a  most  strange  hypo- 
thesis, namely  that  this  "self,"  supposedly  the 
essential,  does  not  exist,  so  to  speak,  before  the 
cabalistic  age  of  seven  years.  Until  then,  parents 
and  strangers  agree  in  considering  the  "con- 
science," the  "personality"  of  the  child  so  feeble, 
so  vague  that  his  acts  remain  almost  altogether 
"innocent."  This  "conscience,"  soon  to  be  so 
responsible  before  the  law,  —  and  even  if  not  in 
theory,  at  least  in  the  practice  of  daily  life,  quite 
as  much  so  before  the  so-called  determinist 
philosophy, — this  "conscience,"  this  "self,"  this 
"individual"  does  not  undertake  his  complete 
and  this  time  overwhelming  responsibility  until 
the  age,  not  less  cabalistic,  of  three  times  seven 
years,  an  age  at  which  he  is  invited  by  society, 
more  imperiously  from  century  to  century,  to 
the  operations  of  military  murder,  of  voting  and 
of  legal  reproduction. 

Nevertheless,  if  the  "self"  is  a  "conscious  per- 
sonality," and  rests  on  the  "memory,"  it  will  be 


THE  GREAT  PREJUDICE  35 

necessary  to  admit,  for  each  one  of  us,  at  least 
several  "selves,"  successive  and  totally  inde- 
pendent of  one  another.  Already  the  "self"  of 
the  twelfth  year  has  forgotten  that  of  the  second 
year,  and  how  few  things  has  the  adult  retained 
in  memory,  compared  to  the  immense  forgetful- 
ness  of  the  self,  emotional  and  reasoning,  almost 
entirely  effaced,  of  the  twelfth  year?  A  few  epi- 
sodes, external  and  distorted,  are  all  that  remain 
to  us. 

If  the  memory  alone  connects,  in  our  intimate 
consciousness,  these  "selves"  so  little  like  to  one 
another,  it  is  by  how  slender  a  thread!  Many 
such  threads  break  in  silence  daily;  the  greater 
part  of  those  which  subsist  remain  throughout 
the  course  of  life  buried  in  shadows  in  our  vast 
Unconscious;  a  few,  a  very  few,  will,  if  we  live 
long  enough,  come  again  to  light  perhaps  a  single 
time,  only  to  disappear  again  forever. 

What  were  you  doing  at  this  hour,  on  this  day 
of  the  month,  in  the  year  1895?  Or  two  months 
later  in  the  following  year,  at  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon? 

Externally,  on  the  contrary,  a  strict  "responsi- 
bility" chains  one  to  another,  like  so  many  galley- 
slaves,  all  those  successive  "selves,"  in  such  a 
manner  that  each  of  them  exhausts  itself  carry- 
ing the  weight  of  acts  the  greater  part  of  which 


36  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

are  completely  effaced  from  the  memory,  and 
others  of  which  appear  but  as  the  phantoms  of 
inexplicable  legends. 

So,  through  idolatry  of  Nature  and  her  terrible 
enchainments,  do  we  superstitiously  hold  the 
unity  of  the  Self  —  that  chimera  —  preferable  to 
all  charitable  justice,  to  our  happiness  and  even 
to  hope! 


And  now,  it  appears,  not  only  this  unity  (sprung, 
I  believe,  from  the  brain  of  some  unlucky  arith- 
metician), but  even  the  "I"  has  no  existence! 
So  many  individuals  mingle  in  the  multiple 
personality,  so  many  strangers  are  entering  and 
departing  by  all  the  ceaselessly  swinging  doors, 
that  it  can  no  longer  constitute  a  "social  entity" 
nor  a  durable  "moral  creature." 

There  are  Selves  which,  the  greater  part  of  the 
time,  let  us  acknowledge,  hold  all  the  scene  with 
their  uninterrupted  march,  dictating,  disposing, 
acting  on  the  way,  and  disappearing  in  the  crowd 
without,  which  continues  to  launch  toward  that 
within  its  monotonous  signals.  Strange,  it  is 
none  the  less  this  incoherent  march,  these  pres- 
sures of  crowds  unknown  to  one  another  and 
without  tradition,  which  the  philosopher  pro- 
claims an  irreducible  unity,  in  order  to  brandish 


37 

it  in  his  exalted  imagination  with  such  pride  that 
he  opposes  it,  quite  alone,  to  the  non-self  sche- 
matized on  the  other  hand.  After  which,  our 
philosopher  goes  to  bed,  and  as  for  his  "self," 
does  he  even  know  whether  or  not  he  takes  it 
with  him,  or  in  what  place  it  hides  among  the 
chaos  of  his  dreams? 


"There  are  two  men  in  me!"  In  vain  we  recall 
this  dreadful  plaint  which  for  three  thousand 
years  has  come  from  humanity.  In  vain  we 
show  that  only  the  existence  of  these  "two  men" 
is  necessary  to  cause  the  fall  of  the  systems,  to 
shake  tribunals  amid  their  parody;  in  vain  we 
detect  the  most  energetic  and  single-minded 
individual  accomplishing  acts  in  direct  contra- 
diction of  the  unique  Self  acknowledged  by  him; 
he  will  stoop  to  lying,  to  playing  the  hypocrite, 
in  order  to  maintain  his  idol  upon  its  altar.  And 
the  most  sincere  and  the  most  cynical  of  us  do 
the  same.  In  despite  of  truth,  of  justice,  of 
charity,  this  dogma  of  the  single  Self  imposes 
itself  upon  us.  To  it  the  freest  among  us  sacri- 
fices docilely  his  sincerity;  worse  yet,  to  this 
fundamental  and  diabolic  talsehood  we  sacrifice 
obstinately  the  genius  which  each  of  us,  with  his 
complete  humanity,  possesses. 


38  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

For  this  falsehood  of  the  single  Self,  of  the 
Character,  the  Identity,  with  its  bondage  and 
responsibility,  alone  assures  the  social  state.  And 
so  much  the  worse  for  you  if  your  "self"  alter- 
nates inexhaustibly  between  passion  and  judg- 
ment, making  impossible  for  you  the  self-examina- 
tion so  much  recommended!  So  much  the  worse 
if,  precisely  because  one  of  your  "selves"  has 
said  "white,"  the  other  should  declare  "black!" 
So  much  the  worse  if  you  do  not  know  why  at 
certain  moments  you  hate  the  woman  you  love 
best,  and  that  from  the  bottom  of  your  heart  — 
your  single  heart!  So  much  the  worse  if  you 
deny  every  faith  you  hold,  if  you  profane  every 
virtue  you  possess!  Of  what  importance  to  us 
are  these  puzzling  trifles,  of  which  your  soul 
perishes?  Falsify  with  us;  we  must,  above  all, 
in  piling  up  the  Systems  and  their  complementary 
hypocrisies,  maintain  boldly  the  unity  of  the  Self. 

But  you  do  not  find,  you  say,  the  same  "self" 
at  home  and  upon  the  rostrum,  with  your  friend 
or  your  wife,  before  your  janitor  or  with  the 
mistress  with  whom  you  divest  yourself  of  your 
"unity"  so  respectable  and  burdensome,  in  the 
presence  of  your  superiors,  or  in  solitude,  or 
amid  honors.  ...  If  you  are  discovered 
contradicting  yourself,  you  will  declare  that  this 
time  you  were  shamming,  belying  yourself,  but 
previously  — 


THE  GREAT  PREJUDICE  39 

Ah,  if  the  human  ego  were  one  and  unique, 
between  whom  then  and  whom,  pray,  would  the 
struggles  of  conscience  take  place?  What  gro- 
tesque picture  do  you  show  me  of  a  tribunal 
wherein  the  judge  is  alone  and  bounces  from 
bench  to  bar,  from  side  to  side  of  the  court? 
Would  not  one  who,  entering,  observed  such  a 
spectacle,  conclude  with  reason  that  the  judge 
was  a  lunatic?  You,  nevertheless,  are  no  lunatic; 
it  must  be,  then,  that  your  Self  is  not  one,  but 
several. 

The  Self,  full  of  illusions  and  of  pride,  which 
was  so  enterprising,  was  it  not  sincere?  What  a 
contrast  to  its  successor,  who,  with  courage 
broken,  comes  to  bear  witness  sadly  against  it! 
Should  you  not  henceforth  abide  by  the  expe- 
riences and  declarations  of  this  latter?  But  no, 
you  cannot,  on  pain  of  perishing  quickly  with  it; 
you  can  no  more  do  so  than  you  can  begin  life 
over.  .  .  Each  mistress  who  has  loved  you 
loved  but  one  of  your  "selves,"  which  differed 
from  the  others  to  such  a  degree  as  not  to  recog- 
nize any  of  those  who  had  previously  loved  you, 
and  the  deep  motive  which  puts  a  weapon  in  the 
hand  of  the  jealous  is  her  failure  to  find  in  the 
body  of  the  deceiver  the  being  she  has  loved; 
she  desires  to  avenge  his  destruction  upon  the 
usurper!  What  do  I  say?  Perhaps  upon  the 
same  day,  at  an  hour's  interval,  the  wife  and  the 


40  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

mistress  embrace  in  you  two  men,  sometimes 
two  really  sincere,  forgetful  of  one  another,  or 
perhaps  even  averting  their  eyes  in  the  embarrass- 
ment (admit  it,  unlucky  one!)  of  not  compre- 
hending one  another.  Where  then  is  your  unique 
ego,  where  is  your  true  character?  Say  no  more; 
invent  no  further  falsehoods ! 


Ill— A  LITTLE  COMMENTARY  ON 
"THE  IMITATION  OF  CHRIST" 

Thus  the  "character,"  which  some  go  so  far 
as  to  call  the  "self,"  is,  in  the  dissolution  thereof, 
revealed  as  that  which  both  the  one  and  the  other 
are,  —  AN  APPEARANCE. 

This  negative  value  of  the  "I"  or  individual 
character  illuminates  with  a  strong  light  the 
Christian  doctrine,  less  and  less  understood,  of 
humility  ("But  when  thou  art  bidden,  go  and  sit 
down  in  the  LOWEST  room."  Luke  XIV,  10) 
and  of  the  obedience  which  logically  results  from 
it.  ("It  is  a  great  matter  to  live  in  obedience, 
to  be  under  a  superior,  and  not  to  be  at  our  own 
disposing  .  .  go  whither  thou  wilt,  thou  shalt 
find  no  rest  but  in  humble  subjection."  IMITA- 
TION OF  CHRIST,  I,  9). 

"The  highest  and  most  profitable  learning  is 
the  true  knowledge  and  consideration  of  our- 


THE  GREAT  PREJUDICE  41 

selves.  It  is  great  wisdom  and  perfection  to 
esteem  nothing  of  ourselves."  (I,  2).  To  humble 
oneself,  in  short,  to  obey,  to  deny  and  abase 
oneself,  this  is  to  destroy  and  overwhelm  that 
negation,  that  mutilation  which  is  the  Self  or 
so-called  character,  and  let  spring  in  its  place 
the  suppressed  organs  of  the  complete  human 
being,  the  true  image  of  God,  as  GENESIS  says, 
and  consequently  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  the 
pious  author  cries  to  God,  before  that  lacuna, 
that  nonentity  which  is  literally  the  self:  "Thou 
accomplishest  all  things,  Thou  fillest  all  things, 
only  the  sinner  Thou  leavest  empty!"  (Ill,  3); 
then,  turning  toward  us:  "Of  thyself  thou  always 
tendest  to  nothing."  (Ill,  4).  Do  we  under- 
stand, now,  why  "where  heavenly  grace  enter  in, 
and  true  charity,  there  will  be  no  place  for  self- 
love."  (111,9)? 

"But,"  it  will  be  asked,  "why  put  ones  own  Self, 
low  as  it  may  be,  still  lower  than  the  other  human 
selves  which  humble  it?"  They  do  not  humble 
it  nor  make  it  suffer,  for  by  themselves  they 
can  do  nothing.  Humiliations,  torments,  —  it  is 
from  God  alone  that  we  receive  all  these  things, 
Whose  instruments  they  are;  from  His  hand,  of 
which  they  are  the  members.  "The  truly  patient 
man  minds  not  by  whom  he  is  exercised,  whether 
by  his  superiors,  by  one  of  his  equals,  or  by  an 
inferior;  whether  by  a  good  and  holy  man  or  by 


42  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

one  that  is  perverse  and  unworthy.  But  indif- 
ferently from  every  creature,  how  much  soever 
or  how  often  soever  anything  adverse  befalls 
him,  he  takes  it  all  thankfully  as  from  the  hand 
of  God,  and  esteems  it  a  GREAT  GAIN."  (Ill,  19.) 
And  he  will  confess  "I  cannot  say  that  any  crea- 
ture hath  ever  done  me  wrong."  (Ill,  41.)  The 
other  "selves,"  the  other  characters,  like  our 

own,  being  in  fact  but  appearances. 
#     *    #     #     * 

The  "character"  is  but  the  impression  upon 
others  (who  reflect  it  back  to  us  and  convince  us 
of  it)  produced  by  one  or  several  of  our  actions, 
—  undertakings,  intentions  divined  or  assumed, 
apologies,  theories,  etc., — manifested  once  for 
all  or  repeated  in  various  analogous  forms. 

In  reality,  then,  we  find  nothing  solid,  at  the 
bottom  of  this  conception,  but  the  idea  of  action. 
And  the  present  study  might  have  taken  as  epi- 
graph that  affirmation  which  was  thought  pre- 
mature in  THE  THIRTY-SIX  DRAMATIC  SITUA- 
TIONS: "Characters  ARE  what  they  DO." 

Now,  if  action,  taken  abstractly,  may  be  defined 
by  us  as  the  shock  of  two  forces,  the  conflict  of 
two  beings,  it  consists  —  to  consider  it  by  halves, 
that  is  to  say  each  of  these  two  beings — in  an 
impulse,  in  an  act,  in  a  simple  movement.  This, 
in  turn,  is  but  the  passage  from  one  attitude  to 
another.  .  .  All  is  thus  reduced,  in  the  end. 
not  to  Characters  in  themselves,  but  to  Attitudes, 


Not  Characters,  But  Attitudes 

CHAPTER  III 
I  —  ATTITUDES 

Only  attitudes,  —  and  this  explains  how  the 
same  (that  is,  what  we  take  for  the  same)  charac- 
ter, regarded  from  one  point  of  view  will  excite 
our  admiration,  and  from  another,  our  amuse- 
ment. A  single  man  can  exhibit  all  attitudes, 
which  is  to  say,  all  characters,  and  consequently, 
whether  simultaneously  or  alternately,  those 
which  are  utterly  contradictory. 

But  the  habit  of  this  or  that  attitude  becomes 
so  well  established,  and  transmitted  by  heredity, 
education  or  example,  that  it  becomes,  as  it  were, 
ankylosed  within  the  organism,  which  ends  by 
exhibiting  so  restricted  a  number  of  these  atti- 
tudes that  it  seems  unable  to  break  away  from 
them,  and  thenceforward  they  produce  that  decep- 
tive illusion  which  is  called  a  Character. 

Thus  each  of  us,  having  potentially  all  the  men- 
tal attitudes,  has  the  whole  human  soul,  always 
and  everywhere  the  same  in  itself,  since  com- 
plete, since  formed  in  the  image  of  the  Infinite, 
as  the  Biblical  legend  has  so  profoundly  expressed 
it.*  Also,  according  to  Plato,  Aristotle  and  Chris- 
tianity, it  is  God  whom  we  love  in  each  human 

*Genesis  1:27:  —  "So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image." 


44  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

being;  that  is  to  say,  that  human  being  in  his 
completeness.  "Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself," 
says  the  Gospel,  and  nothing  can  be  more  natural, 
since  in  his  completeness  he  is  like  yourself  and 
you  are  identical  with  him.  "Love"  here  signi- 
fies "see"  or  "recognize," — recognize  the  image, 
faithful  and  complete,  of  God.  Those  who 
"having  eyes  yet  see  not,"  have  in  their  eyes  a 
"beam,"  that  of  the  cross,  to  which,  exalting 
themselves  as  judges,  they  —  despite  St.  Paul, 
despite  the  Gospel  —  condemn  their  neighbor, 
which  is  to  say  God,  which  is  to  say  themselves 
transcendentally. 

No,  the  lover  does  not  create  for  himself  illu- 
sions as  to  the  beloved,  evidences  of  his  own  pas- 
sion. On  the  contrary,  it  is  he  alone  who  shows 
himself  lucid,  and  his  admiring  words  reveal  to 
his  beloved  many  sides  of  her  nature  of  which 
she  herself  was  unaware.  . 

Also,  this  link  which  every  moralist  instinc- 
tively seeks,  and  which  connects  all  the  Person- 
ages of  fiction  and  history,  — all  the  "characters" 
—  in  a  sort  of  logical  succession  in  which  we  may 
see  them  spring  one  from  another,  —  this  link, 
this  indefinable  all-essential  which  shall  be  called 
HUMANUM,  Bossuet  thought  he  discovered  in 
LOVE,  root  of  all  passions,  and  La  Rochefoucauld, 
turning  toward  the  solitude  in  which  he  had 


NOT  CHARACTERS,  BUT  ATTITUDES  45 

isolated  the  human  heart,  in  SELF-LOVE;  our 
moderns  see  it  incontestably  in  SEXUAL  LOVE, 
the  primitive  act  of  our  life,  wherein  lie  the  prob- 
lems of  heredity  and  of  races,  which  interest 
them  so  deeply. 

The  old  mediaeval  theology  said,  in  a  broader 
sense,  DIVINE  LOVE,  or  the  HOLY  SPIRIT,  and  it 
identified  under  this  term  the  reciprocal  love  of 
the  two  other  Divine  Persons,  the  love  of  all 
Three  for  man  and  that  of  man  for  Them,  and 
for  his  neighbor  through  love  of  Them,  —  the 
animating  principle  of  creation,  inspirer  of  minds 
and  giver  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  even  that  of 
the  human  Word  and  its  modifications,  the 
languages;  grace  in  all  senses  of  the  word. 

For  the  common  herd,  —  and  for  many  writers, 
—  a  Character  is  constituted,  even  firmly  estab- 
lished, as  soon  as  three  or  four  characteristic 
aspects  are  shown,  connected  with  one  another 
by  the  thread  of  a  logical  idea  relating  them  in 
cause  and  effect.  Tragedy  and  Comedy,  on  the 
contrary,  exist  but  to  demonstrate  how  sad  and 
ridiculous  a  thing  it  is,  subjectively  or  objectively, 
to  BE  but  one  poor  character,  but  one  ankylosed 
attitude ! 

Now,  in  their  totality,  these  attitudes,  through 
which  every  man  worthy  of  the  name  can  or 


46  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

originally  could  pass;  through  which  passes,  at 
least  in  imagination,  the  genius  of  the  "poet  of  a 
thousand  souls,"  — these  diverse  attitudes,  which 
it  is  his  mission  to  show  us,  each  in  turn,  in  his 
works,  in  order  to  break  our  enslaving  "anky- 
losis,"  — these  attitudes  may  be  counted,  as  well 
as  those  of  the  body.  Have  we  not,  moreover, 
already  reduced  to  the  number  of  36  their  conflicts? 

Since  they  may  be  counted,  they  may  be 
classified. 

No  one  has  succeeded,  —  no  one  should  suc- 
ceed —  in  counting  and  conveniently  distributing 
"characters"  in  the  insulated  sense  in  which  the 
word  is  commonly  used.  It  is  but  right  that 
such  semblances,  mistaken  for  individual  beings, 
should  vanish  from  the  hands  which  would  restrain 
and  put  them  in  cages.  But  the  "attitudes" 
which  are  not  persons,  but  ephemeral  roles,  — 
nothing  prevents  our  enumerating  them.  From 
the  beginning,  the  people  of  the  drama  have 
been  brought  on  and  off  in  spite  of  themselves, 
so  to  speak,  to  be  labelled  and  ticketed,  —  very 
imperfectly,  I  admit,  because  of  their  excessively 
conventionalized  life,  a  life  having  one  side  only, 
for  the  personage  of  drama  is  concerned  only  with 
that  side  which  he  turns  toward  the  audience,  the 
others,  like  those  of  the  moon,  remaining  invisible! 


NOT  CHARACTERS,  BUT  ATTITUDES  47 

The  OCCUPATIONS  of  the  stage  have  been 
counted.  And  this  term  evokes  curiously  that 
of  those  "Professional  Types"  which  began  in 
the  Middle  Comedy  of  the  Greeks,  with  its  Fish- 
vendor,  its  Courtesan,  its  brutal  Soldier,  its 
Parasite,  its  Cook, — the  drama  of  observation, 
before,  in  the  New  Comedy  of  Menander,  the 
study  of  more  individualized  characters  was 
approached. 

It  is  to  Professional  Types,  moreover,  that  the 
herd  clings.  To  the  question,  "What  is  Mr.  So- 
and-So?"  three  people  out  of  four  will  reply, 
"He  is  an  attorney,"  or  "He  is  a  shoe-maker." 
Apparently  they  would  reply,  if  asked  about  St. 
Matthew,  "He  was  a  clerk,"  or  of  Jean- Jacques 
Rousseau,  "He  was  a  servant."  From  what  does 
this  come,  if  not  from  the  fact  that  such  a  classi- 
fication, so  easy,  corresponds  to  a  primary  psycho- 
logical tendency,  albeit  a  vulgar  one?  Clearly 
it  is  easier  to  recognize  a  justice  in  his  official  robe 
than  a  just  person  seated  among  the  accused;  a 
Jesuit  in  his  professional  garb  than  a  Tartufe  also 
ever-faithful  to  Success,  and  today  perhaps  chant- 
ing the  songs  of  the  "International!" 

From  the  day  when  there  were  united  for  the 
first  time,  in  a  new  form  of  art  (which  we  call 
the  comedy  of  manners),  several  examples  of  the 
same  trade  or  profession,  it  became  very  neces- 


48  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

sary  to  discern  in  them  several  roles  in  the  same 
rank;  for  example,  given  a  ministerial  bureau, 
there  will  almost  inevitably  be  found  therein  the 
ill-tempered,  the  jocose  and  waggish,  the  beast- 
of -burden,  etc.,  all  a  little  colored  by  whichever 
of  these  characters  remains  attached  to  their 
chief.  These  are  like  moral  liveries,  which  the 
PERSONNEL  distribute  among  themselves,  at  first 
with  some  fumbling,  but  with  which  each  of  them 
identifies  himself  little  by  little,  according  to  the 
instinctive  demand  and  pressure  of  the  environ- 
ment. 

The  same  phenomenon  is  repeated  in  the 
habitues  of  a  salon,  of  a  public  place,  of  the  edi- 
torial rooms  of  a  journal,  among  the  workmen 
of  a  farm  or  shop,  the  sailors  on  a  vessel,  the 
members  of  an  association,  commission,  academy, 
or  any  group.  In  this  entertaining  distribution 
of  roles  one  can  perceive  the  birth  of  Traditional 
Characters.  In  turn,  the  complete  series  of  these 
Traditional  Characters  in  their  professional  or 
social  MILIEU  (as  the  Clerks  of  Balzac),  could  be 
compared  to  the  series,  equally  complete,  of 
another  MILIEU,  and  again  of  others;  thus  was 
gathered  the  collection  which  the  author  called 
the  COM&DIE  HUMAINE. 

The  fact  of  having  been  able  to  transport,  true 
to  himself,  from  one  of  these  MILIEUX  (a  bureau) 


NOT  CHARACTERS,  BUT  ATTITUDES  49 

to  another  (a  boulevard),  then  a  third  (a  bank  or 
newspaper  or  the  world  of  women)  his  Bixiou, 
for  example,  proves  that  he  has  given  him,  in  a 
broader  sense  than  we  realize,  a  Human  Character. 
Nevertheless  it  is  but  a  role  become  a  man,  this 
Bixiou;  one  might  almost  say  it  is  the  mere  face 
of  an  actor,  such  as  Daudet's  Delobelle.  Remark- 
ing this  ankylosis  in  a  single  attitude,  that  of 
sarcasm,  what  reader  has  not  said  to  himself  that 
there  should  be  something  else  in  Bixiou  than  the 
side  Balzac  has  shown  us? 

And  that  "something  else"  certainly  existed  in 
the  back  of  the  author's  mind.  The  exaggeration 
of  the  type  has  here  a  hyperbolic  aspect,  —  and 
necessarily  so.  Balzac  overdraws  it  at  this  point 
only  through  condescension  toward  us,  and  in 
order  to  give  us  that  impression  of  "character" 
which  we  expect  and  understand.  Only  by  means 
of  such  deceptive  representations  do  we  perceive 
it,  and  so  the  other  sides  of  the  character  are 
deliberately  thrust  back  into  the  shadow. 

They  are,  I  say,  thrust  back,  but  not  sup- 
pressed. For,  with  a  great  writer,  —  or,  what 
comes  to  the  same  thing,  in  a  great  legend,  the 
production  not  of  the  masses,  but  of  anonymous 
genius, — these  "other  sides"  are  never  lost;  it 
is  they  which  permit  the  author,  when  he  wishes, 
to  present  with  verisimilitude  his  personage  in  an 


50  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

attitude  absolutely  opposed  to  the  first  one. 
Whereas,  in  such  a  VOLTE-FACE,  the  writer  who 
is  a  mere  arranger  of  puppets  never  fails  to  con- 
tradict or  mutilate  his  first  conception,  to  the 
bewilderment  of  his  public. 

Furthermore,  it  is,  I  say,  precisely  back  of  the 
most  pronounced  '"character"  that  we  find  that 
delicate  play  of  light  and  shade  which  gives  it 
life  and  verisimilitude.  Unlike  the  uniformity  of 
the  Corneillean  heroes,  unlike  the  crude  contrasts 
of  the  Hugoesque  figures  with  their  too-simple 
dualism,  some  naif  detail  of  a  poem  or  a  hagiog- 
raphy  renders  comprehensible  and  akin  to  us  a 
humanity  nevertheless  so  superhuman.  What  a 
child-like  heart  is  revealed  by  the  tears  of  the 
hard  Achilles,  or  by  the  jokes  of  the  audacious 
spouse  of  the  Lady  Poverty! 


II— ROLES  AND  OCCUPATIONS;  PROFES- 
SIONAL AND  TRADITIONAL  TYPES; 
CHARACTER-TYPES;  CHARACTERS  MORE 
INDIVIDUALIZED,  AND  PORTRAITS. 

Let  us  recapitulate  the  seven  aspects  through 
which  passes,  by  means  of  contrasts,  the  genera- 
tion of  "Characters"  in  literature. 

(1)  —  Roles.  These  are  hardly  more  than  the 
persons  of  the  verb  in  grammar,  united  to  the 


NOT  CHARACTERS,  BUT  ATTITUDES  51 

active  or  passive  voice,  as:  the  Pretagonist,  the 
Antagonist,  the  disputed  Object  (a  woman  loved 
by  two  rivals,  a  child  in  a  divorce,  a  prince  between 
two  courtesans,  a  judge  solicited  by  both  parties), 
the  PERSONNAGE-LIEN  or  Connecting  Character, 
who  is  only  the  preceding  passed  from  the  passive 
to  the  active  voice  (the  common  friend  of  two 
combatants,  the  mother  of  brothers  at  enmity), 
then  the  Instigator  or  Instigators  (confidant, 
confessor,  counsellor,  mentor,  lago),  and  the 
Instrument  or  Instruments  (messenger,  angel, 
executioner,  hired  assassin,  mob),  and  finally  the 
Chorus  (the  odious  thesis-characters  of  Ibsen 
and  Dumas  FILS,  the  SERMONNEUR  of  the  Miracles, 
part  of  the  RAISONNEURS,  neighbors,  witnessess), 
plus  the  DEUS-EX-MACHINA  (prologue-characters, 
the  narrator,  the  letter  lost  and  found,  the  useful 
coincidence,  etc.). 

(2)  — Occupations.  An  empirical  attempt  of 
the  comedians  to  group  themselves,  and  of  which 
they  have  taken  the  more  account  as  they  are 
obliged  to  seek  therein,  in  default  of  masks  or 
make-up  sufficiently  exaggerated,  the  "physical 
means"  necessary  to  the  material  representation 
of  the  real  elements  of  character.  This  division 
is  to  the  preceding  almost  what  the  contingent 
physiognomy  is  to  the  moral  life.  Here,  never- 
theless, presented  only  with  a  little  more  of  order 
than  has  been  shown  heretofore,  are  the  ordinary 


52      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

titles,  whose  artificial  spirit  I  have  scrupulously 
respected: 

Young  Princesses  (Iphigenia,  Zaira)  and 
Ingenues  (Agnes).  JBUNES  PREMIERS,  Lovers 
(the  Marquis  de  Presles,  the  Delaunays,  Don 
John  of  Austria).  JEUNES  PREMIERES,  Feminine 
Lovers  (Philiberte,  Dona  Sol).  These  border 
upon  Premier  Roles  (Thisbe,  Marion  Delorme, 
Countess  Almaviva,  Celim£ne,  Almaviva,  Don 
Juan,  Alceste,  Buridan)  and  upon  Great  Prin- 
cesses (Hermione,  Camille).  PREMIERS  ROLES 
(Ruy-Blas,  Mary  Tudor,  Lucretia  Borgia,  Mar- 
guerite de  Bourgogne).  Premier  Character  Roles 
(Don  Ruy  Gomez,  Don  Quexada).  RA1SON- 
NEURS  (Philante).  Noble  Fathers  (the  Gerontes 
of  "Le  Menteur"  and  "Le  Joueur,"  Boursault's 
Aesop,  Verdelet  in  "Le  Gendre  de  M.  Poirier"). 
Dotards  and  Dolts  (Geronte  in  "Le  Legataire," 
Argante  in  "Les  Fourberies").  Financiers 
(Turcaret,  M.  de  Sottenville,  M.  Guillaume  in 
"Patelin").  Tertiary  Roles  (traitors  and  tyrants, 
Don  Salluste,  Saltabadil,  the  deceived  husbands 
and  villains  of  modern  drama,  Begearss).  Premier 
Comic  Roles  (Figaro,  Giboyer,  I'lntime,  Gros- 
Rene,  Sganarelle  in  "Le  Festin  de  Pierre,"  Scapin 
in  "Les  Fourberies"),  and  Secondary  Comic  Roles 
(all  the  valets  and  jesters  except  that  of  the 
"Legataire,"  which  is  a  premier;  Jodelet  in  "Les 
Precieuses,"  the  Marquis  in  "Le  Joueur,"  Covielle, 


NOT  CHARACTERS,  BUT  ATTITUDES  53 

Mascarille  in  "Depit,"  Dandin  in  "Les  Plaideurs," 
M.  Loyal,  Thomas  Diaforus).     Soubrettes,  etc. 

As  we  see,  a  well-turned  figure,  hollow  features 
or  a  round  paunch  are  sufficient  to  cause  passage 
from  one  of  these  categories  into  another.  I 
refrain  from  here  taking  account  of  distinctions 
altogether  local  and  peculiar. 

(3)  —  Professional  Types  in  which  social  rank, 
so  dear  to  the  vulgar,  emerges  from  the  preceding 
classification :  —  The  Valet  and  the  Marquis  (our 
"snob")  from  the  Premier  and  Secondary  Comedy 
Roles;    the    Pedant    and    the    Tutor    from    the 
"Dotards,"  the  Tyrant  from  the  Tertiary  Roles, 
the    Courtesan    from    the    Premier    Roles,    etc. 
Now  let  us  add  to  these  certain  specializations 
particularly  well  carried  out: — the  Molieresque 
Doctor,  the  Cook  of  Greek  drama  (that  ancestor 
of  the  innkeepers  and  cooks  of  Dumas,  of  "La 
Reine  Pedauque"  and  of  "Cyrano"),  the  Athenian 
Fish-vendor,  the  boastful  Soldier,  the  Parasite, 
the  antique  Slave  (forerunner  of  the  Valet),  the 
Spanish  Go-between,  the  Gendarme  (escaped  from 
the  puppet-theatre),  our  Usurer,  our  Functionary, 
etc. 

(4)  —  But  such  of  these  Professional  Types  as 
appeared  in  the  "Occupations"  of  comedy  there 
contend,  obscurely  mingled,  with  the  Traditional 
Types  admired  in  former  days,  and  who,  under 


64  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

the  new  names  fastened  like  masks  upon  their 
faded  visages,  yet  fill,  without  the  public's  observ- 
ing it,  about  three-fourths  of  the  drama  (and,  I 
would  say,  of  modern  literature).  Here  is  Lelio, 
or  the  Lover,  a  slightly  sad  JEUNE  PREMIER. 
Here,  more  naif,  is  Pierrot,  —  shall  we  call  him 
Gringoire  for  a  change?  Let  us  hasten  on  to 
Jocrisse,  the  Foolish  Servant,  past  Palisse,  Cadet- 
Roussel,  Calino  and  the  primitive  Harlequin  (for 
the  present  shrewd  Harlequin  rejoins,  by  way  of 
Mascarille  and  the  valets,  one  of  the  two  types  of 
Slave  which  in  the  plays  of  Aristophanes  form 
an  antithesis  to  the  credulous  and  the  dupe). 
Polichinelle,  fighter  and  brawler^  reappears,  a 
little  more  obscene,  in  Karagheuz,  and  more 
filthy  in  Ubu.  The  sly  Columbine  returns  to 
the  professional  type  of  soubrette,  but  beside 
her,  Isabelle,  from  whom  come  the  folk  of  the 
JEUNES  PREMIERES,  is  but  too  much  a  "tradi- 
tional!" 

(5)  —  Character-Types !  Here,  in  brief,  is  every- 
thing the  public  demands.  It  will,  for  a  long 
time  to  come,  prefer  these  to  more  exact  studies. 

Dickens,  Daudet,  and,  most  of  the  time,  Zola, 
have  but  built  upon  some  vicious  habit  or  some 
gross  and  conspicuous  trait  of  the  traditional 
puppet;  Nana,  we  might  say,  is  the  eternal  Cour- 
tesan, Saccard  is  the  Financier,  according  to  the 
invariable  formula  from  Lesage  to  Mirbeau. 


NOT  CHARACTERS,  BUT  ATTITUDES  55 

Renee  springs  especially  from  the  department  of 
Occupations,  a  radiation  from  the  Feminine  Lovers, 
—  and  she  alone  tempted  momentarily  from  the 
enormous  work  of  the  Rougon-Macquart  Family 
our  great  national  actress,  so  admirably  identified 
with  her  "occupation"  that  she  is  always  cited  in 
connection  with  it.  She  has  realized,  —  we  say 
it  without  irony,  — the  perfection  of  her  art. 
It  is  forbidden  to  the  actor  to  raise  himself  higher, 
and  he  exercises  thereby  a  regrettable  influence 
not  only  upon  the  stage,  where  the  evil  remains 
well  restrained,  but  unhappily  upon  literature, 
even  the  most  serious,  thence  upon  history  also, 
and  through  it  upon  the  tendency  of  an  age  fallen 
into  the  stupidity  of  taking  .the  player  for  an 
artist,  the  hypocrite  for  a  poet  "bleeding  with 
sincerity,"  and  the  banal  "occupation"  for  a  new 
and  liberating  conception  of  life. 

It  is,  moreover,  merely  in  a  spirit  of  concession 
that  I  have  accorded  this  Paragraph  5  to  Charac- 
ter-Types, since,  in  the  final  analysis,  they  all 
come  from  the  two  preceding  (Professional  Types 
and  Traditional  Types). 

(6)  — The  Stage  is  closed  to  Characters  More 
Individualized.  Tartufe  and  the  better  heroes 
of  Shakespeare  had  access  to  it  only  because  their 
authors  happened  upon  it  before  them. 

I  say,  observe,  "more  individualized,"  and  not 
simply  "individual."  We  may  partially  discover 


66  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

the  reason  above,  apropos  of  Balzac.  In  the  case 
of  characters  of  whom  he  has  tried  to  tell,  if  not 
everything,  at  least  too  much  at  one  time,  he 
has  made  them  indistinct,  and  they  mingle  in  a 
confusion  wherein  we  wander  among  a  vague 
crowd  of  human  beings. 

(7)  —  The  Portrait  in  reality,  —  be  it  drawn 
from  nature  by  a  Balzac,  be  it  by  a  historian 
exceptionally  conscientiqu^,  —  in  losing  its  gen- 
erality loses  also,  contradictory  as  it  may  appear, 
something  of  its  clearness.  It  proves  to  be  less 
truthful,  as  Aristotle  has  already  remarked,  than 
the  poetical  representation  of  men  and  events. 
Unless,  of  course,  it  follows  the  usual  process;  in 
that  case  it  will  embrace  in  a  complete  view  the 
career  of  an  illustrious  man,  or  at  least  consider 
a  very  large  part  of  it,- in  order  to  exhibit  him 
camped  in  a  certain  immobile  and  striking  posture 
of  soul;  M.  Masson  has  done  thus  with  his  Bona- 
partes.  The  Imperfect  of  the  Indicative  is  here 
a  great  resource.  The  Portrait  corresponds  in 
this  manner  to  one  of  the  Traditional  Types,  and 
ranges  itself  in  one  of  the  ever-ready  pigeon- 
holes under  the  eternal  labels:  — The  Chivalrous, 
The  Debonnaire,  The  Haughty,  The  Tyrant, 
The  Sage,  The  Lion  (today  the  Superman).  The 
historic  epithets  attached  to  the  names  of  so  many 
princes,  —  and  SO  LITTLE  VARIED,  —  are  a  curious 
evidence  of  this  tendency. 


NOT  CHARACTERS,  BUT  ATTITUDES  57 

III  —  NEW  COMBINATIONS 

If  each  one  of  the  seven,  or  rather  of  the  six 
classes  which  we  have  just  extracted  one  from 
another,  encroaches  upon  its  neighbors,  it  will 
nevertheless  be  observed  that  this  does  not 
result  in  confusion.  There  is  not  even  combina- 
tion among  them,  —  there  is  only  juxtaposition, 
only  mosaic,  owing  to  the  unskilfulness  of  their 
authors. 

Each  of  these  classes  will  offer,  according  to 
the  angle  from  which  the  writer  considers  its 
contents:  — 

1st:  —  Comic  Characters. 
2nd:  — Tragic  Characters. 

3rd :  —  Serious  Characters,  a  sort  of  hybrid 
utilized  at  will  by  tragedy  and  comedy,  by  satire 
and  by  historical  romance  and  poetry. 

4th :  —  Among  Comic  Characters  a  particularly 
interesting  series,  Parody  Characters.  These  were 
originally  tragic  characters,  who  have  been  trans- 
ferred from  right  to  left,  so  to  speak,  such  as 
Don  Quixote  and  his  numerous  but  too-feeble 
posterity.  Ariosto  and  his  French  and  Italian 
predecessors,  the  Greek  SATYRIQUE  drama  and 
our  modern  burlesque  have  left  much  to  be  done. 

5th :  —  Symmetrically  opposite,  amid  the  Tragic 
Characters,  will  be  the  Paradoxical  Characters,  in 


68  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

former  days  farcical,  but  now  presented  in  a 
pathetic  light.  The  infirmities  of  Richard  III 
or  of  Quasimodo  give  us  as  yet  only  physical 
examples,  but  Dickens  and  Daudet  are  full  of 
caricatures  which,  if  not  tragic,  are  at  least  pitiful. 

We  might  still  distinguish,  6th,  Characters 
heretofore  odious,  presented  sympathetically:  — 
The  thief  Jean  Valjean,  the  daughters  of  Roman- 
ticism and  Naturalism,  heirs  of  Mary  Magdalene; 
the  hypocrite  in  "Le  Cure  de  Village"  and  in 
many  English  novels. 

Then,  7th  (recommended  to  anarchists,  inno- 
vators and  professional  "free  souls"),  Characters 
heretofore  sympathetic,  presented  under  a  repug- 
nant or  despicable  aspect;  we  have  had  many  of 
them  within  recent  years,  but  others  remain; 
working  men,  children,  etc. 

On  the  comic  side  we  shall  have,  8th,  to  paint 
ridiculously  the  characters  ordinarily  spared,  as 
the  betrothed  young  girl,  the  man  of  theses. 

And,  9th,  to  present  seriously  and  sympathet- 
ically Characters  heretofore  grotesque.  It  has 
been  done  for  the  deceived  husband  and  the 
jealous  lover;  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  doing 
it  for  the  usurer,  the  undertaker,  and  many  others. 

These  changes  of  place  will  be  found  fecund  in 
all  the  Literature  of  Character,  and  not  alone, 


NOT  CHARACTERS,  BUT  ATTITUDES  59 

as  might  be  supposed,  in  drama  and  romance. 
A  Michelet,  for  example,  has  not  seldom  done 
thus,  in  his  design  of  lightening  the  unconscious 
remorses  of  our  nation.  There  is  nothing  more 
malleable  in  this  respect  than  history,  so  long  as 
it  has  not  grown  and  hardened  into  a  myth  (more 
truthful  because  the  expression  of  the  collective 
consciousness);  a  Clytemnestra  obviously  does 
not  so  readily  lend  herself  to  this  treatment  as 
a  Madame  Syveton. 

Real  or  imaginary,  lofty  or  trivial,  vague  or 
clearly  drawn,  often  diverse  in  their  portraits, 
sometimes  contradictory  of  aspect,  I  have  evoked 
these  human  Figures  from  out  the  centuries  and 
from  all  parts  of  the  globe.  For  we  must  rid 
ourselves,  as  I  have  realized,  before  it  is  too  late, 
of  our  false  ideas  concerning  superior  and  inferior 
races,  and  welcome  contact  with  all  humanity. 
The  dominance,  recent  enough  and,  I  am  con- 
vinced, unprecedented  for  intrigue  and  destruc- 
tiveness,  of  Occidental  and  notably  Protestant  or 
free-thinking  peoples,  corresponds  to  an  equal 
and  moreover  logical  impotence  in  original  and 
durable  creation.  Many  a  reduced  or  subju- 
gated race,  such  as  the  Italian  or  the  Hindu, 
represents  well  enough  what  a  poet  of  genius 
becomes,  or  an  ill-dressed  hero,  introduced  into 
the  parlor  of  rich  and  vulgar  money-worshippers, 
mocking  and  scornful;  they  will  bewilder  him 


60  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

with  their  figures,  complacently  watch  him 
envelope  himself  in  silence  and  ennui;  will  despoil 
him,  if  he  still  possesses  anything,  under  the  pre- 
text of  enriching  him,  and  chuckle  afterward 
over  having  so  easily  vanquished  him.  There 
is  nothing  to  prevent  the  situation  being  some 
day  reversed,  and  that  perhaps  sooner  than  we 
expect ;  the  premonitions  of  it  are  already  appear- 
ing throughout  the  world;  strange  surprises  are 
in  store,  and  very  probably,  in  such  an  event,  the 
new  order  of  things  will  annihilate,  until  but  a 
memory  remains  of  it,  this  ugly  and  stupid  age 
of  PARVENUS,  which  will  meet  the  fate  of  so  many 
other  vainglorious  barbarisms,  likewise  proud  of 
their  industries,  their  arms  and  their  wealth. 

From  the  great  pile-built  cities  of  China,  from 
the  immemorial  records  of  Peru  and  Egypt, 
from  Central  Africa,  rich  in  traditions  too  long 
disdained,  from  the  humblest  "primitives,"  from 
the  chronicles  of  Iran,  from  fiery  Malaysia,  from 
paradoxical  Japan  and  from  reviving  Arabia; 
from  the  snow  huts  of  Lapland,  the  streets  of 
Stamboul,  the  paths  of  Ceylon  and  the  plateaux 
of  Thibet;  from  the  72  books  of  the  two  Testa- 
ments, from  the  Greek  and  Latin  literatures, 
modern  as  well  as  ancient,  from  Norse  and  Finnish 
songs  and  from  all  the  mythologies;  finally  from 
the  remotest  corners  of  occidental  civilization, 
and  all  the  writings  which  it  has  set  down  in 


NOT  CHARACTERS,  BUT  ATTITUDES  61 

modern  languages,  even  to  the  most  recent,  and 
scattered  over  the  world,  —  O  sisters,  O  brothers, 
from  all  regions  of  earth,  from  the  future  as  well 
as  the  past,  in  your  motley  and  ever-changing 
costumes  or  your  lamentable  and  touching  nudity, 
from  all  the  ranks  from  which  you  have  turned 
at  my  appeal,  from  all  the  ages  of  life  when  you 
have  sent  out  a  cry  which  has  reached  me,  I  have 
gathered  you,  in  unforeseen  groups  where  our 
sad  modern  menagerie,  in  its  hopeless  decay, 
reaches  out  its  hands  to  the  most  radiant  Goddess 
of  the  Dawn,  —  where  the  prattling  infant,  the 
greybeard  and  the  light-o'-love  become  of  a 
sudden  identical ! 

I  am  aware  that  an  interminable  procession  of 
more  and  more  banal  replicas  will  follow  after. 
But  the  unison  of  their  monotonous  voices  will 
not  drive  away  those  detached  and  heretofore 
unknown  figures,  hastening  from  out  the  mass, 
and  astonished  to  find  themselves  suddenly  in 
the  light.  Sometimes,  too,  my  calculations  hav- 
ing apparently  permitted  me  to  silhouette  a 
certain  type  between  two  related  ones,  I  have 
nevertheless  summoned  it  in  vain;  nothing  appears, 
from  literature  or  zodiacs,  in  that  lacuna  of 
human  personality! 

We  shall  march,  O  reader,  with  a  sure  step 
toward  silent  and  lonely  regions.  And  there, 


62  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

beneath  the  brush  of  a  virgin  land,  we  shall  dis- 
cover, slumbering,  the  Unpublished  Being.  She 
will  awake  when  we  take  her  by  the  hand.  And 
this  heroine  of  the  Poet  to  come,  this  Eve  of 
future  endless  maternities,  we  shall  bring  back 
through  the  ranks  of  astonished  Lovelaces,  to 
the  still  empty  pedestal  where  her  Figure,  all 
unblemished,  shall  shine  among  the  too-conven- 
tional attitudes  of  her  companions. 

Thus  shall  we  bring  forward  ten,  a  hundred,  a 
thousand  and  more, — exactly  369,  12,915, 
154,980,  —  augmenting  the  unprecedented  chorus 
disposed  at  the  feet  of  Her  who  shall  summarize 
them  all  in  her  perfection,  nevertheless  so  human. 


The  Four  Temperaments 

CHAPTER  IV 
I  —  THE  SYSTEMS  TO  BE  HARMONIZED 

Let  us  remember,  in  the  beginning,  that  the 
object  of  the  present  study  is  not  to  reduce  the 
attitude-types,  the  pretended  "characters,"  to  a 
small  number  of  elements,  —  a  task  but  too  easy ! 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  a  question  of  multiplying 
them,  and  at  the  same  time,  as  I  have  already 
explained,  of  examining  the  analysis  of  each  one  of 
them ;  of  each  one  of  us. 

Every  one  of  these  types,  I  have  said,  is  in 
reality  but  one  face,  one  ATTITUDE  of  the  human 
Soul,  and  that  soul  remains  whole  and  identical  in 
all  men;  there  is  not  one  of  them  who  could  not, 
originally,  present  all  these  attitudes,  pass  from 
one  to  another  of  them,  exhibit  all  their  gestures. 
But  heredity,  education,  example  and  social  cus- 
tom with  its  false  duties  have  ankylosed  in  us  a 
much  reduced  number  of  these  attitudes. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  Kant  saw  but  four  pos- 
sibilities for  all  humanity ;  —  four,  not  one  more, 
not  one  less;  four,  not  even  combinable  among 
themselves  to  engender  another!  There  are  but 
four,  he  affirms  in  his  absolutism,  and  they  can  no 
more  mingle  "than  the  four  forms  of  the  syllogism." 


64  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

To  these  four  irreconcilable  aspects  of  humanity  he 
gives  the  ancient  name  of  "temperaments," — but 
evidently  without  retaining  its  etymological  sense 
(TEMPERAMENTUM,  equilibrium). 

It  must  be  recognized  that  the  philosophers  and 
classifiers,  more  or  less  consciously,  always  return 
to  this  antique  medical  theory.  The  majority 
admit,  like  their  founders,  that  the  four  tem- 
peraments mingle,  two  by  two  or  three  by  three, 
in  variable  proportions,  like  the  famous  "humours" 
from  which  they  were  drawn.  Assuredly,  it  is  a 
strange  spectacle  to  see  thus  surviving  in  psychol- 
ogy the  consequences  of  a  classification  so  long 
obsolete  in  physiology!  And  it  is  most  amusing 
to  see  certain  writers  taking  as  great  pains  to 
justify  all  this  in  the  name  of  Science  (with 
Fouillee)  as  others  (such  as  Paulhan  and  Ribot) 
take  to  avoid  it,  seeking  to  abandon  and  leave 
behind  them  the  "unstable,"  the  ill-balanced,  the 
"amorphous"  etc., — which  is  to  say,  the  major 
part  of  mankind.  It  is  curious  too  that  the  former 
should  find  themselves  to  be  the  idealists,  and  that 
the  positivism  of  the  latter  should  seek  support  in 
the  classic  distribution  of  mental  faculties: — will, 
emotion,  intelligence. 

Observe  that  their  "Obstinate"  types  recall 
strangely  the  ancient  Bilious  (which  included  the 
Ambitious,  the  Dominating,  etc.)  and  their  "Emo- 


THE  FOUR  TEMPERAMENTS  65 

tionals"  the  Nervous.  Their  "Inconsistents"  com- 
prising chiefly,  I  am  afraid,  the  adversaries  of 
their  vaunted  Systems,  it  only  remains  to  pick 
from  among  their  stragglers  the  "Amorphous"  and 
the  "Unstable"  to  discover  in  them  our  tradi- 
tional Lymphatic  and  Sanguine! 

As  to  M.  Fouillee,  who  does  not  pretend  to 
break  so  violently  with  the  past,  he  defines  the 
Sanguine  as  "Sensitive,  of  prompt  reaction"  and 
the  Nervous  as  "Sensitive,  of  intense  reaction;" 
the  Bilious  or  Choleric  as  "Active,  of  prompt  and 
intense  reaction"  and  the  unfortunate  Lymphatic 
or  Phlegmatic  as  "Active,  of  slow  and  not  intense 
reaction";  definitions  more  scientific  than  exact, 
to  tell  the  truth,  —  but  so  much  the  more  appro- 
priate for  the  contemporary  reader. 

II  —  THE  SYSTEMS  HARMONIZED  AND  EXPLAINED 

It  is  several  years  since  the  author  of  the  pres- 
ent work,  in  a  little  book  entitled  "The  Theory  of 
Temperaments,"  divided  as  follows  the  Four 
Temperaments . 

Two  of  these  Temperaments  he  found  to  pos- 
sess a  sensitive  or  "subjective"  character,  in  their 
evident  propensity  to  let  emotionalism  prevail 
over  the  detached  and  reasoning  Self,  even  to  the 
extent  of  absorbing  all  and  assuming  full  control. 
These  two  were  the  Nervous  and  the  Sanguine. 
Their  common  verb,  indicating  what  there  is  of 


66  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

jealousy,  selfishness  and  egotism  in  such  natures, 
is  to  Possess,  to  Have,  or  to  Enjoy. 

To  these  were  opposed,  under  the  title  "Objec- 
tive" (that  is  to  say,  temperaments  more  disposed 
to  externalize,  to  MANIFEST  themselves)  the  Lym- 
phatic (or  Phlegmatic)  and  the  Bilious:  (of  this 
latter,  be  it  said  in  passing,  determination  is 
much  more  characteristic  than  irritability, 
although  the  latter,  because  it  is  a  RESULT  of 
determination  before  an  obstacle,  has  given  to  the 
Bilious  Temperament  the  misleading  name  of 
"Choleric,"  thus  creating  an  annoying  confusion 
with  the  Sanguine  and  the  Nervous,  which  are 
quite  as  much  inclined  to  choler).  While  as  to  the 
term  "Objective",  it  appeared  from  the  first,  and 
appears  now,  to  the  author,  more  appropriate  by 
far  than  that  of  "Active,"  applied  by  M.  Fouillee 
at  the  same  time  to  the  Bilious  —  and  to  the 
Lymphatic! 

It  was  observed  in  "The  Theory  of  Tempera- 
ments" that  the  Nervous  and  the  Bilious,  the  one 
by  its  imagination  and  the  other  by  its  strength  of 
will,  represented  the  "Intellectual."  Have  they 
not  a  common  tendency  to  abstraction,  to  ideal- 
ization? Likewise,  the  Sanguine  and  the  Lym- 
phatic, with  their  tendency  to  materialism,  to 
realism,  represent  the  "Physical,"  both  being 
devoted  to  practical  life  and  comfort,  the  one  with 
greater  ardor,  the  other  with  greater  constancy. 


THE  FOUR  TEMPERAMENTS  67 

The  antithesis  between  the  Active  and  Passive 
offered  the  last  binary  combination  which  can  be 
made  between  these  four  Temperaments,  and 
consequently  united  on  the  one  hand  the  Bilious 
(that  is,  the  Obstinate)  with  the  restless  Sanguine, 
while  on  the  other  the  Nervous  and  the  Lymphatic 
are  drawn  together  by  their  faculty  of  feeling,  of 
suffering. 

The  diagram  on  next  page  will  give  a  clear 
idea  of  the  perfect  concord  between  the  diverse 
classes  which  we  have,  after  a  fashion,  just  reduced 
to  a  common  denominator. 

This  analysis  has  a  double  advantage : 

1st:  It  defines  with  precision,  for  the  first  time, 
the  Four  Temperaments  in  their  psychological 
significance,  gives  them  a  constitutive  formula  and 
measures  exactly  the  distance  which  separates 
them  one  from  another.  The  Bilious  is  thus 
defined,  simply  by  its  position  in  the  diagram,  as 
an  Intellectual-active-objective;  the  Lymphatic 
as  a  Physical-passive-objective,  etc. 

2nd:  It  ramifies  into  six  chief  branches  as 
genealogy  of  new  types  derived  from  the  first  Four. 
And  these  six  new  types,  less  generous,  begin  to 
press  more  closely  upon  the  human  reality.  Fur- 
ther, it  had,  as  we  have  just  seen,  the  advantage  of 
putting  into  accord,  several  years  ago,  two  con- 
flicting systems  which  are  to  this  day  opposed. 


68  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 


* 


THE  FOUR  TEMPERAMENTS  69 

Does  it  not  reconcile,  in  a  common  reality,  the 
four-division  system  extolled  by  M.  Fouillee  with 
the  three-divisional  method  of  other  philosophers, 
and  introduce  a  binary  system  as  well?  True,  it 
did  not  in  the  beginning  attach  much  importance 
to  justifying  itself  from  a  medical  point  of  view; 
its  origin  was  more  poetic  than  scientific,  and  it 
does  not  hesitate  before  those  questions  which  the 
Poets,  at  all  times  and  among  all  peoples,  have 
better  studied  than  the  Physicians.  It  prefers, 
with  its  Masters,  to  take  flight  from  medical  ter- 
ritory, —  wherein  the  first  malady  will  transform 
the  physiological  temperament  and  nevertheless 
modify  only  secondary  parts  of  the  character,  — 
toward  the  open  sky  of  the  great  natural  Analogies. 

Ill  —  OF  THE  FOUR  TEMPERAMENTS 

We  recall  the  manner  in  which  these  Masters 
have  compared,  in  lines  at  once  profound  and 
beautiful,  the  autumn  of  life  and  the  twilight  of 
the  day  and  the  year,  to  the  sadness  of  the  Ner- 
vous type  amid  the  historic  decadences;  the  winter 
to  the  aged  Lymphatic  approaching  life's  night- 
time ;  the  spring,  in  its  morning,  to  some  Neitz- 
schean  adolescent,  choleric  and  barbaric,  and 
noon  or  midsummer  to  the  Sanguine  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  life,  careless  and  forgetful,  in  his  ephem- 
eral strength,  of  the  weakness  of  the  past  and  the 
future. 


70 

The  Nervous  type  suggests  to  our  minds  Asia, 
lyrical  and  mystical,  subtle,  fond  of  silks,  of  tea 
and  coffee,  of  hasheesh  and  opium,  creator  of 
paradises,  religious  and  artificial. 

His  transparent  skin,  delicate  and  smooth  to 
the  touch,  suggests  ivory.  We  note  the  large 
eyes,  the  high  forehead,  the  head  broad  at  the 
back,  the  contracted  and  trembling  motions  of 
his  handwriting,  hesitant,  narrow,  angular,  full  of 
flourishes;  the  hearing  developed  more  than  the 
other  senses  (which  are  often  defective).  We 
hear  his  voice  low  and  vibrant,  serious;  his  incer- 
titude of  motion  extending  also  to  his  language, 
which  is  interspersed  with  hesitant  "ahs."  We 
array  him,  this  man  of  the  eastern  plains,  in 
melancholy  greens,  in  blacks  or  silken  stuffs  of 
strange  design.  Neuroses  and  hallucinations  do 
not  surprise  us  in  this  being  whose  cerebral  con- 
stitution is  feminine,  nor  do  the  mental  zigzags  so 
illogical  in  appearance,  the  forgetfulness  of  the 
principal  parts  of  his  discourse,  the  confusion,  the 
perpetual  recommencement.  The  character,  imag- 
inative above  all,  has  those  flashes  of  intuition 
which  Goethe  attributed  to  that  one  of  his  four  prin- 
ciples which  he  called  the  DEMONIAC.  Aristocratic, 
sensitive,  we  do  not  tire  of  his  confidences,  of  his 
incurably  LYRIC  nature,  of  his  tendency  at  first  to 
deny  and  spurn  that  which  later  enraptures  him, 
nor  of  his  mysticism,  so  in  accord  with  the  elliptic 


THE  FOUR  TEMPERAMENTS  71 

turn  of  his  mind,  suggestive  and  stimulating.  In 
short,  we  admire  in  him  the  echo  of  that  which  is 
most  human  in  the  animal  nature. 

With  the  Bilious  type  we  turn,  on  the  contrary, 
towards  the  Occident,  ambitious,  hardy  and  con- 
quering, more  brutal  but  keenly  logical,  forceful 
in  language,  imperious;  the  veritable  muscle  of 
humanity.  We  remark  the  aquiline  nose,  the 
deep-set  eyes,  commanding  and  far-sighted,  the 
salient  Napoleonic  chin,  the  ruggedness  of  visage 
which  reminds  us  of  roughly  sculptured  stone.  In 
the  broad  forehead  we  see  the  spirit  of  domination, 
of  headstrong  argument.  The  gestures  are  precise 
and  definite,  the  handwriting  clear  and  firm,  with 
short  well-made  strokes;  the  speech  brief  and 
sententious,  hammered  out  syllable  by  syllable, 
yet  sometimes  with  a  pontifical  and  majestic 
quality.  We  notice  how  firmly- woven  fabrics  in 
the  pronounced  and  classic  colors  (reds  and  bright 
blues)  cling  and  hang  upon  this  muscular  figure 
with  its  powerful  biceps. 

Such  a  temperament,  idealistic  but  dogmatic 
and  authoritative,  aspires  above  all  to  establish 
and  assert  itself.  Its  weakness  lies  in  its  mania 
for  deducing  all  things  from  a  single  principle,  with 
a  logic  more  or  less  exact,  but  relentless  even 
before  the  absurdity  of  the  results. 

We  may  observe  a  rapport  between  the  fickle- 
ness so  characteristic  of  the  Sanguine  Tempera- 


72      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

ment  and  that  of  the  Negro  race.  We  find  in  this 
type,  in  southern  lands,  a  jesting  disposition,  a 
tendency  to  hasty  and  exaggerated  affirmations, 
vivacity,  sociability,  a  love  of  strong  and  varie- 
gated colors,  of  gaudy  gold-trimmed  uniforms  and 
plumes,  of  tinsel  decorations,  of  theatricals  and 
dramatic  scenes;  a  democratic  and  turbulent 
spirit,  practical  instincts,  a  habit  of  sophistry  and 
pretense  (both  to  himself  and  others),  easy  morals, 
scepticism,  a  pr oneness  to  impulsive  folly,  a 
character  by  turns  audacious  and  cowardly.  The 
flesh  tints  are  warm,  the  skin  pliant  to  the  touch, 
almost  oily,  the  movements  vigorous  and  agile, 
whence  the  handwriting  of  round  open  letters, 
often  illegible,  however,  because  of  its  rapidity. 
The  noisy  speech  is  well  adapted  to  sudden  flares 
of  anger,  to  quarrels,  jests  and  arguments.  His 
sense  of  smell  is  keen,  his  taste  is  for  highly  spiced 
food.  We  clothe  him  in  conspicuous  and  amusing 
costumes.  For  the  rest,  we  may  heartily  praise 
his  initiative,  his  gaiety,  his  energy,  his  practical 
habits,  his  adaptability  to  all  circumstances. 

The  Lymphatic,  lastly,  we  discover  near  the 
Poles  (or  at  least  near  that  one  toward  which 
humanity  withdrew  before  the  great  sea  which 
anciently  advanced  upon  it  from  the  south).  It 
is  under  the  snowy  skies  of  the  north  that  we  find 
dispassionate,  patient  souls,  deep  thoughts  (some- 
times vague  and  misty  on  contact  with  others), 


THE  POUR  TEMPERAMENTS  73 

didactics,  the  scientific  spirit,  the  memory  well 
developed  but  encumbered  with  documentary 
facts;  utilitarianism,  slow  speech,  heavy  gestures, 
interminable  sentences,  and  a  disposition  to  long 
and  sometimes  dreamy  discourses.  The  hand- 
writing is  negligently  traced,  without  firmness,  the 
letters  rather  broad  than  high ;  the  style  is  descrip- 
tive. The  weak  point  of  such  a  type  is  its  dullness. 
Regularity  of  life,  realism  in  philosophy,  a  utilitar- 
ian indifference  in  politics,  an  inclination  to  endless 
study,  a  strongly  developed  sense  of  taste,  a  liking 
for  soft  clothing  and  soft  colors  such  as  rose  and 
grey-blue,  pallid  flesh,  cold  and  soft  to  the  touch, — 
these  characterize  this  northern  or  mountain  type, 
which  may  be  compared  to  the  fish  or  the  reptile 
in  the  animal  world  or  to  the  humid  sea- wrack  in 
the  vegetable  world. 

Our  analysis  even  forms  a  sort  of  Crystallog- 
raphy of  Human  Traits,  which  furnishes  the 
artist  with  elements  analogous  to  those  just 
evolved  for  the  student  of  human  souls.  Thus 
will  be  understood  the  four  following  schemes  or 
caricatures.  (Page  74.) 

As  we  see,  the  profile  is  divided  into  four  regions : 
occiput,  sinciput,  nose,  jaw.  I  have  apportioned, 
theoretically,  the  upper  half  of  each  of  these  parts 
to  the  signs  of  the  Bilious  and  the  Lymphatic  (B 
and  L),  and  the  lower  half  to  the  lines  of  the 
Nervous  and  the  Sanguine  (N  and  S).  These 


74      THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 


JfU~J 


r 


r~^-  r~^ 

'  •  '  z  t  ' 

•VkrJ 


THE  POUR  TEMPERAMENTS  75 

lines  consist,  for  the  Bilious  and  Nervous,  in 
CONVEXITIES;  for  the  Lymphatic  and  the  Sanguine 
in  CONCAVITIES.  It  will  be  remarked,  not  without 
surprise,  that  this  plan,  so  simple,  gives  also  the 
four  characteristic  physiognomies  of  the  four 
traditional  Temperaments. 

We  have  now  but  to  continue  over  the  entire 
body.  The  anatomists  and  draughtsmen  have 
long  pointed  out  certain  correspondences  of  form, 
not  absolute,  but  frequent,  between  the  three 
elements  of  the  TRIADS  into  which  the  whole 
human  body  is  divided  and  then  subdivided. 
Thus,  first  the  Head,  the  Thorax  and  the  Abdomen 
respectively  supporting,  1st:  the  two  crooked  bones 
which  by  their  joining  in  front  form  the  lower 
jaw;  2nd:  the  arms,  and  3rd:  the  legs.  Each  of 
these  pairs  of  members  divides  itself  again  into 
THREE: — the  thigh,  the  leg  and  the  foot;  the  arm, 
the  forearm  and  the  hand;  the  perpendicular  part 
of  the  lower  jaw,  the  horizontal  part  and  the  part 
in  which  the  teeth  are  set.  The  teeth  correspond 
also  to  the  phalanges  of  the  fingers  and  the  toes. 
We  know  that  each  finger  in  turn  has  THREE  phal- 
anges, etc. 

Now,  we  usually  find  a  correspondence  of  con- 
formation, in  an  individual,  between  the  parts  of 
his  various  members  (knees  and  elbows,  wrists 
and  ankles,  etc.)  and  between  the  extremities  or 


76  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

the  central  regions  of  his  diverse  parts:  it  is  this 
which  gives  so  special  an  aspect,  for  example,  to 
the  hand  of  a  hunchback.  We  may  then  sketch 
also,  from  head  to  feet,  four  human  beings  in 
whom  the  two  concavities  and  the  two  convexities, 
upper  and  lower  (by  which  we  have  already 
characterized  —  in  occiput,  sinciput,  nose  and 
jaw  —  our  Lymphatic,  Sanguine,  Bilious  and  Ner- 
vous) will  continue  to  show  themselves  in  the 
outlines  of  the  shoulder-blades,  the  chest,  the 
pelvis  and  the  abdomen ;  then  of  the  two  posterior 
and  the  two  anterior  halves  of  the  thighs ;  the  arms, 
forearms,  legs;  even  of  each  phalange;  in  a  word, 
in  every  one  of  the  parts  into  which  we  have  just 
divided  the  human  silhouette. 

Finally,  each  of  these  parts,  as  we  have  seen, 
is  divided  into  four  regions:  lower  posterior,  upper 
posterior;  lower  anterior,  upper  anterior.  These 
respectively  appertain,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
to  the  signs  of  the  Lymphatic,  the  Nervous,  the 
Bilious  and  the  Sanguine. 

Let  it  be  said  once  more,  it  is  not  a  question  of 
exact  and  inevitable  concordance,  but  of  establish- 
ing FOUR  FUNDAMENTAL  TYPES,  which  will  extend 
the  human  Proportions,  theoretically  and  ideally, 
and  will  be  a  point  of  departure  for  the  variations 
which  may  be  executed  within  the  limits  of  these 
proportions.  Still  less  is  it  a  question  of  an 
infallible  process  for  the  divination  of  character 


THE  FOUR  TEMPERAMENTS  77 

by  facial  traits,  since,  we  repeat,  the  "character" 
is  but  a  habit  or  group  of  habits  fixed  upon  a 
human  being,  and  not  the  being  himself,  who  in 
spite  of  it  remains  complete,  and  capable  of  taking, 
with  greater  or  less  pliancy,  other  habits  and  other 
attitudes.  The  physiognomy  is  but  the  envelope 
or  cover,  so  to  speak,  formed  by  habit  (especially 
hereditary),  and  less  quickly  modified  than  the 
habit  itself,  —  although  infinitely  more  so  than  we 
think,  and  than  the  too  uniform  life  of  our  civili- 
zation lets  appear. 


The  Law  of  Four-Century  Periods 

CHAPTER  V 
(AN  APPLICATION  OF  THE  PRECEDING  CHAPTER) 

How  many  analogies  does  the  Theory  of  Tem- 
peraments permit  us  to  weave!  It  draws  threads 
not  only  from  all  points  of  space  and  from  all 
manifestations  of  mind,  but  likewise  from  time 
and  history. 

Having  remarked,  for  example,  that  the  order  of 
evolution  of  the  Four  Temperaments,  by  their 
analogy  with  the  Seasons,  the  Ages  of  Life,  etc., 
presents  regularly  the  Bilious  or  Obstinate  fol- 
lowed by  the  happy  Sanguine,  this  by  the  Nervous 
and  it  in  turn  by  the  Lymphatic,  to  recommence 
with  the  Bilious,  and  so  on,  which  is  equivalent  to 
saying  in  face  of  every  activity:  Growth,  Complete- 
ness, Decline  and  Repose,  —  is  it  not  plain  that 
the  17th,  13th,  9th,  5th  and  1st  centuries  of  our 
era  (those  of  Louis  XIV,  of  Saint  Louis,  of  Charle- 
magne, of  Clovis  and  of  Augustus,  which  our 
histories  call  the  "Grands  Siecles"),  like  the  4th, 
8th,  12th  and  16th  of  the  pre-Christian  era  (those 
of  Alexander,  of  Romulus,  of  Agamemnon,  of 
Sesostris),  return  every  400  years,  like  a  full  moon, 
or  a  historic  Summer? 


THE  LAW  OF  FOUR-CENTURY  PERIODS  70 

Besides  the  nine  great  Figures  just  named, 
they  bring,  like  bolts  of  thunder,  the  most  tre- 
mendous downfalls  and  destructions  with  which 
the  world  has  resounded : —  the  fall  of  Jericho,  the 
fall  of  Troy,  the  fall  of  Nineveh,  that  of  the  Per- 
sian Empire,  that  of  Jerusalem,  that  of  Rome, 
that  of  the  Carlo vingian  Empire,  that  of  the 
Hohenstaufens,  that  of  the  Catholic  Empire.  And 
at  the  same  time  are  precipitated  the  most  irre- 
sistible invasions  and  streams  of  migration: — the 
Jews  into  the  Promised  Land,  the  Heraclides 
across  Greece,  the  black  Ethiopians  into  Egypt, 
the  blonde  Gauls  to  Rome,  the  brown  Romans  to 
the  limit  of  their  conquests,  the  great  Invasions, 
in  return,  to  the  very  heart  of  that  Empire;  those 
of  the  Northmen  across  its  reconstitution,  of  the 
Mongols  into  Europe  in  the  13th  century,  and  the 
expansion  of  France  over  Europe  and  the  world 
(17th  century).  And  finally,  in  one  of  these 
Summers  of  History  there  rises  the  figure  of 
Christ. 

The  dark  centuries  of  Winter  (10th,  6th,  2nd 
B.C.;  3rd,  7th,  llth,  15th  and  19th  A.D.)  offer,  by 
contrast,  grave  and  often  sorrowful  and  bitter, 
figures : —  the  Buddha  (whether  of  the  10th  or  the 
6th  century),  then  Confucius  (with  Zoroaster,  it 
is  said,  and  Pythagoras) ;  the  aged  Cato ;  four 
hundred  years  later  the  great  heresiarch  Mani, 
whose  despairing  philosophy  dared  equalize  God 


80  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

and  the  Devil;  in  the  7th  century  the  fatalist 
Mahomet,  in  the  llth  Ghibellinism,  happily  over- 
come by  Gregory  VII  at  Canossa;  John  Huss, 
and  finally  Hegel  and  Schopenhauer.  Ages  of 
transition  and  of  grievous  yet  fecund  error! 
Napoleon  (whose  prefiguration  seems  to  have  been 
the  Gaulish  Sigovese,  conquering  the  German 
tribes  24  centuries  earlier),  Mahomet  II,  William 
the  Conqueror  and  the  founder  of  the  Sassanids; 
Ardashir  and  Marius  and  Cyrus  the  adventurer 
and  Erechtheus  form  the  tokens  of  it,  behind 
these  heroes  of  the  advance-guard: — the  Revolu- 
tionaries, Jeanne  d'Arc,  the  Cid  and  the  Guelphs; 
the  Gracchi,  Harmodius  and  Aristogition,  the 
first  Brutus.  Livingstone  followed  by  Stanley 
and  Christopher  Columbus  followed  by  the  Con- 
quistadores  correspond  to  the  first  Crusaders  and 
to  the  Arab  Conquest,  —  as  Verlaine  to  Villon. 
It  is  as  if  the  travail  of  germination  pierces,  for 
the  ages  to  come,  the  cold  black  earth  of  the 
Louis-Philippes  and  the  Louis  XI's,  the  Roths- 
childs and  the  Jacques  Coeurs,  the  Croesuses  and 
the  Eclectics.  This  is  also  a  series  of  Germanizing 
centuries;  every  one  of  them  wears,  as  an  armor, 
the  Germanic  grandeur,  from  the  formidable 
organization  of  the  Prankish  and  Sueve  Leagues 
(3rd  century)  and  the  preponderance  of  the  Mayors 
of  Austrasia  (7th),  to  the  Franconian  House  (llth) 
and  that  of  the  Habsbourgs  (15th)  and  the  tri- 
umphant rise  of  the  Hohenzollerns  (19th). 


THE  LAW  OF  FOUR-CENTURY  PERIODS  81 

Each  one  of  them,  as  a  night  or  winter,  extin- 
guished and  swept  away  the  century  immediately 
preceding,  this  latter  belonging  to  the  series  of 
Autumn  or  Evening. 

In  the  Autumn  or  Sunset  periods  to  which  we 
now  come,  we  find  always  elegance  enraptured 
with  itself,  a  varied  and  fragile  splendor,  luxury 
and  profusion;  always  the  vintage-time  of  a 
declining  civilization.  Even  the  kings  are  so 
learned  that  they  pose  as  sages!  Joseph  II  and 
Catherine  of  Russia,  and  thou,  Charles  V,  father 
of  the  mortal  schism  of  the  West,  wherein  perished 
our  supremacy  in  Europe;  and  you,  the  Basileus 
philosopher^  of  10th  century  Byzantium;  even 
thou,  Chilperic,  the  grammarian  of  the  6th  century, 
succeeding  Marcus  Aurelius  and  the  Antonines 
(2nd  century),  who  follow  400  years  after  the 
Ptolemies  of  Alexandria;  and  thou,  Solon  (7th 
century  B.C.)  and  finally,  at  the  summit,  thou, 
Solomon,  author  or  not  of  the  Book  of  Wisdom! 

With  the  sneering  scepticism  which  Voltaire, 
across  four  times  four  centuries,  received  as  a  her- 
itage from  Lucian,  reigns  also  the  most  absurd 
credulity;  Cagliostro,  Rosenkranz  and  the  Free- 
masons of  the  14th  century,  occultism  of  the  time 
of  Gerbert,  the  frenzied  Gnostics,  and  that  dis- 
quieting pythoness  of  Endor  whose  words 
resounded  in  the  troubled  mind  of  Saul,  the 


82  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

foolish  king,  —  prefiguration,  four  centuries  in 
advance,  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  by  24  centuries 
of  our  Charles  VI !  —  grins,  convulsions,  the 
appearance  of  the  animal  grimace  beneath  the 
human  mask.  And  with  this  series  of  centuries  is 
connected  the  birth  of  idolatry  which  tradition 
makes  contemporaneous  with  Ninus.  Thought 
would  perish,  if  the  learned,  everywhere  modestly 
limited  to  the  tangible,  did  not  extract  some 
elements  of  survival;  Thales  and  the  sages, 
Archimedes  and  Euclid,  Ptolemy  the  geographer, 
the  lawyers  of  Justinian,  the  Arabian  scholars  and 
the  inventors  of  the  14th  century  have  done  so. 

In  contrast,  let  us  unroll  the  series  of  Spring. 

If  Jesus  chose  one  of  the  Summer-cycles  for  His 
glory ;  if  Idolatry  rose  in  the  decline  of  the  Autumn 
cycles;  if  some  yet  mysterious  menace  darkens 
those  of  Winter,  it  was  one  of  the  cycles  of  Spring 
that  saw  the  creation  of  this  beautiful  world, 
according  to  the  Bible;  in  the  41st  century  before 
Christ  (the  date  most  frequently  adopted,  notably 
by  Bossuet,  Daunou,  Dreyss,  etc.). 

Four  times  400  years  nearer  to  us,  in  the  25th 
century,  Creation  was  reborn,  purified  by  that 
fantastic  baptism,  the  Deluge.  The  Flood  of 
Deucalion  is  still  400  years  nearer  (21st  century) ; 
it  corresponds  to  the  epoch  of  the  Jewish  people's 
origin  in  Abraham. 


THE  LAW  OF  FOUR-CENTURY  PERIODS  83 

But  hark  while  rises,  from  the  slopes  of  Sinai,  the 
divine  poetry  of  Moses!  (17th  century  B.C.),  and, 
following  like  an  echo  below  from  the  sea,  that  of 
Orpheus  (13th  century).  Who  are  the  greatest  of 
creators,  if  not  Homer  (9th  century),  the  Tragics 
of  the  5th  century,  Virgil  (1st  century  B.C.);  in 
sacred  literature,  the  sublime  Fathers  of  the  4th 
century  (St.  John  Chrysostom,  Jerome,  Augus- 
tine, Ambrose,  Basil,  Athanasius,  Gregory  Nazi- 
anzen,  — founder,  it  is  said,  of  the  Christian 
theatre),  and  in  non-Christian  literature,  the  Eddas 
(8th  century) ;  then  the  French  and  German  epics 
of  the  12th  century,  and,  finally,  Shakespeare. 

Our  20th  century  belongs  to  this  glorious  family. 
Let  us  not  forget  that  each  of  the  giants  whom  I 
have  just  evoked  marches  amid  the  luxuriant 
flowering  of  all  the  arts;  the  Renaissance  dawns 
over  almost  all  Europe,  despite  Protestant  ana- 
thema, as,  800  years  earlier,  reviving  Byzantine 
art  triumphed  over  the  Iconoclasts;  the  ogival 
architecture  of  the  12th  century  (Notre  Dame  de 
Paris)  rivals  that  of  the  Parthenon  after  four  times 
400  years ;  —  but  who  could  enumerate  the  poets 
and  artists  of  these  privileged  ages?  Even  war  is 
ennobled,  and  seems  made  for  dreams  and  visions : 
—  the  expedition  of  the  Argonauts,  the  Medic 
Wars,  the  glory  of  Greece,  the  struggles  for 
equality  in  Rome,  the  conflicts  with  the  Arian 
belittlers  of  the  great  Mystery,  the  combat  with 


84  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

the  Saxons,  and  that  of  Roland  at  Roncesvalles, 
preluding,  four  centuries  in  advance,  the  Crusades 
of  the  12th  century  against  Islam;  lastly  the 
religious  wars  in  resistance  to  the  sectarianism  of 
that  new  Arius,  Luther.  But  special  disciplines 
have  each  time  responded  to  new  heresies :  — 
Loyola,  St.  Bernard,  St.  Benoit,  St.  Augustine  and 
the  Nicene  Creed,  the  Incarnation,  Socrates,  the 
just  Herakles,  the  Decalogue  (17th  century  B.C.,) 
appear  at  intervals  of  four  centuries  and  confirm 
the  ancient  call  of  Abraham  (21st  century)  and  the 
splendid  forecast  of  the  Bow  of  Promise  (25th 
century). 

Do  we  not  see,  even  in  the  midst  of  our  surprised 
indifference,  religious  passion  reviving,  and  decor- 
ative art  everywhere  throwing  over  the  ugliness  of 
the  past  century  its  network  of  beauty?  —  solemn 
portents,  and  perhaps  the  last.  Four  times  four 
make  sixteen;  the  first  16  centuries,  which  com- 
prised the  world's  youth,  expired  with  the  sobs  of 
Buddha,  that  personification  of  disillusion;  the 
intoxicating  fruits  of  maturity  ripened,  on  the 
thrice  sacred  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  between 
Homer  and  Mahomet.  Is  it  old  age,  is  it  decline, 
which  began  under  the  pale  skies  of  the  north,  with 
the  Eddas  and  the  ancestors  of  the  Carlo vingians, 
to  terminate  with  the  23rd  century?  — may  it  be 
that  humanity  has  but  four  more  centuries  to 
live?  Strangely,  already  the  commentators  of  the 


THEfLAW  OF  FOUR-CENTURY  PERIODS  85 

Apocalypse  profess  to  discover  therein  that  the 
Last  Judgment  will  follow  not  long  after  the  year 
2000,  and  from  elsewhere  the  prophecies  of  St. 
Malachy  announce  but  ten  more  Popes  to  lead  the 
Church  to  the  fulfillment  of  her  task. 


The  Six  Directions  of  Action 

CHAPTER  VI 
I  —  THE  TEMPERAMENTS  COMBINED 

TWO  BY  TWO,  FORMING  SIX  TYPES 

We  may  see,  by  this  single  example,  the  fecun- 
dity of  our  analogies.  It  is  most  natural  to 
extend  them.  It  is  most  natural  to  extend  the 
Four  Temperaments  into  the  Six  Types  (three 
pairs  or  two  trios,  according  to  need)  which  our 
Theory  has  extracted  from  them,  as  we  have 
seen  above. 

But  first  let  us  define  with  precision  these  Six 
Types: 

The  Objective,  a  combination  of  the  Bilious 
and  the  Lymphatic,  has  as  its  dominating  desire 
that  of  Being  more,  of  Manifesting  itself  in  works ; 
ELOQUENCE,  ADVENTURE,  PRIDE  and  LABOR  are 
derived  from  this  desire.  (We  shall  see,  in  Chap- 
ter X,  why  these  words  are  emphasized.)  The 
features  of  this  Type  are  broad,  calm  and  har- 
monious, the  demeanor  grave  and  straightforward, 
the  bodily  posture  upright  even  to  the  point  of 
leaning  backward.  The  body,  of  medium  height, 
white  of  flesh  and  cold,  lacks  the  thrill  of  life  even 
when  the  blood  is  rich;  the  muscles,  often  over- 
developed, add  to  its  heaviness.  The  hand- 


THE  SIX  DIRECTIONS  OF  ACTION  87 

writing  is  small,  regular  and  a  trifle  cramped. 
The  mind  is  broad  and  tolerant,  through  absence 
of  passion;  the  ideas  travel  in  immense  circles 
without  a  clearly  apparent  object.  The  style  is 
oratorical,  explanatory,  given  to  enlarging,  by 
successive  developments,  points  at  first  trivial. 
The  natural  tendency  of  opinion  is  conservative, 
plutocratic,  even  BOURGEOIS,  hierarchic,  friendly 
to  law  and  order,  to  harmony,  to  respectability, 
with  happiness  or  serenity  as  the  aim.  A  defect 
of  this  type  is  slowness  of  mental  processes.  In 
philosophy,  these  are  the  pantheists;  in  science, 
the  physicians;  in  art,  the  sculptors.  The  women 
of  this  type  love  like  men;  the  children  prefer 
their  mother  to  their  father. 

The  Subjective,  —  or  better  yet,  the  Possessive, 
since  the  dominant  instinct  is  to  Have,  to  Pos- 
sess, —  is  a  combination  of  the  Nervous  and  the 
Sanguine.  Whether  grasping  or  prodigal,  these 
are  monopolists,  —  and  thereby  sentimentalists 
also;  jealous  and  frequently  despotic,  they  live 
in  a  state  of  passion  and  are  often  unjust  in  con- 
sequence. Thought,  with  them,  springs  from 
within  outward.  Their  unquiet  hearts  are  the 
source  of  their  faults  or  their  vices.  They  are 
chthonians,  Titans,  always  in  eruptions  or  in 
tempests.  In  science,  they  will  be  chemists;  in 
art,  painters  or  musicians;  in  politics,  judges  or 
dictators.  Theirs  are  expressive  faces,  yet  with 


88  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

inequalities  caused  by  this  or  that  ugly  feature; 
skin  like  alabaster,  flashing  eyes  whose  gaze 
easily  hypnotizes.  Their  gestures  are  enthusias- 
tic, imperious,  excited;  steps  short  and  unequal; 
handwriting  full  of  variations  and  flourishes. 
The  speech  is  animated,  the  style  spirited,  full  of 
antitheses  and  rhetorical  figures.  The  children 
of  this  type  prefer  their  father  to  their  mother. 
Later,  especially  if  the  Sanguine  be  predominant, 
this  tendency  renders  disturbing  their  admiration 
for  virile  beauty. 

The  Active,  a  mingling  of  the  Sanguine  and 
Bilious,  closely  approaches  the  preceding,  but  its 
formula  is  Action.  People  of  this  type  do  not 
limit  themselves  to  passionate  censure  or  con- 
demnation, like  the  Subjectives;  they  revolt, 
they  strike;  neither  do  they  travel  in  circles  like 
the  Objectives;  their  energy  has  a  more  active 
effect.  Their  thought  is,  above  all,  practical  and 
shrewd.  Bold,  clever,  sometimes  unscrupulous, 
often  patronizing  and  protecting,  dangerous  as 
adversaries,  they  have  the  art  of  leading  the 
crowd,  which  is  always  militarist  as  soon  as  its 
fears  are  overcome,  and  which  finds  in  this  type 
something  of  its  own  grossness,  its  own  brutality. 
Well  developed  virile  figures,  bearded  faces,  tanned 
complexions;  gestures  forceful  and  concentrated, 
restless  bodily  attitudes  as  though  always  on  the 
point  of  action,  coarse  language  and  vigorous 


THE  SIX  DIRECTIONS  OF  ACTION  89 

methods  in  all  things  are  characteristic  of  them. 
They  lie  with  facility,  risk  life  readily,  have  a 
tendency  to  take  the  shortest  cut  to  the  object  in 
view;  they  are  experimenters,  ever  ready  to  try 
something  new,  with  the  audacity  of  scepticism 
and  with  a  total  irreverence  for  the  past,  which 
they  neither  understand  nor  appreciate.  Their 
handwriting  is  rapid;  they  have  a  lively  narrative 
style  and  furnish  many  popular  story-writers. 
They  have  an  egotism  which  is  readily  condoned, 
and  an  ability  to  extricate  themselves  from 
almost  any  difficulty.  They  love  the  natural 
sciences. 

The  Passive,  —  or  rather  Sensitive,  since  their 
great  role  is  to  Feel,  —  unite  in  themselves  the 
Nervous  and  the  Lymphatic.  They  pass  from 
art  to  faith,  from  fidelity  to  sensuality,  since, 
sensitive  and  emotional,  they  vibrate  to  every 
contact.  Their  flesh  is  fine  and  delicate,  even 
morbidly  so;  the  outlines  of  the  figure  are  rounded. 
Gestures  as  well  as  words  are  often  involuntary; 
the  postures  indolent,  the  manner  well-poised. 
The  handwriting  remains  always  immature.  The 
style  is  harmonious,  flowery,  descriptive.  This 
nature  is  essentially  musical,  and  frequently 
becomes  religious.  Impressions  from  without 
overcome  impulses  from  within.  In  politics,  they 
are  devotedly  legitimist,  faithful  to  the  throne  as 
to  the  altar,  influenced  by  ancient  traditions  of 


90  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

loyalty  and  royalty,  of  "divine  right,"  of  aris- 
tocracy, of  "the  good  old  times."  They  have  a 
profound  seriousness  in  matters  of  sentiment, 
which  expresses  itself  in  delicate  old-fashioned 
language.  Will-power  is  deficient,  artifice  and 
hypocrisy  frequent.  Sometimes  there  is  coquetry, 
sometimes  worse;  but  the  family  virtues  are 
usual  in  this  type. 

The  Intellectual  (Bilious- Nervous)  are  abstract 
thinkers;  their  role  is  to  Idealize.  The  possessive 
instinct  in  them  translates  itself  into  avarice  or 
ambition;  emotionalism  into  prudence,  virtue, 
theology;  activity  into  subtility.  Theoretical, 
mathematical,  systematic,  their  mentality  has 
both  a  literal  and  an  imaginative  tendency. 
Their  language  is  full  of  strange  expressions, 
acquired  and  used  almost  unconsciously.  Their 
style,  concise,  elliptic,  intense,  vivid,  reveals  their 
originality,  which  we  discover  also  in  their 
BIZARRE  handwriting,  jerky  and  angular,  in  their 
odd  personal  mannerisms,  in  their  long  and 
somewhat  heavy  steps,  with  an  excessive  bend- 
ing at  the  knees.  Their  opinions  are  essentially 
individualistic,  anarchistic,  destructive,  pessimis- 
tic; a  strong  sense  of  the  rights  of  personality 
causes  them  to  hold  all  things  admissible  which 
lead  toward  the  ideal  state  in  which  individuals 
and  ideas  shall  not  be  dominated  by  mass  stu- 
pidity. They  are  usually  thin  of  flesh,  with 


THE  SIX  DIRECTIONS  OF  ACTION  91 

rounded  shoulders  and  chest;  the  nose  is  nerve 
RETROUSSE,  for  all  the  bodily  lines  curve  from 
above  downward. 

Lastly,  the  Physical,  — whose  constant  aim  is 
to  Realize,  to  Materialize,  and  in  whom  the 
Sanguine  and  the  Lymphatic  mingle,  — show,  on 
the  contrary,  heavy  flesh,  sometimes  plump  and 
dimpled,  sometimes  bloated  and  ugly.  The  facial 
and  bodily  lines  tend  to  turn  upward.  They 
are  always  thickset;  their  movements,  neverthe- 
less, are  easy,  and  neither  in  step  nor  posture 
are  they  hampered  or  clumsy.  Prosaic  dullness 
is  the  defect  of  their  minds,  whose  grossness  is 
sometimes  expressed  in  violent  or  voluptuous 
tastes.  The  letters  of  the  handwriting  are  short, 
rounded,  heavy.  Their  opinions,  social  in  ten- 
dency, rest  upon  some  doctrine  of  solidarity,  of 
cooperation,  of  mass  effort,  and  have  little  regard 
for  initiative  and  for  that  inequality  which  is  so 
fecund.  They  are  socialistic  levellers.  A  mind 
of  this  type  often  ends  in  materialism;  its  science 
will  be  that  of  industry,  its  life  one  of  adaptation, 
its  art  merely  a  photographic  realism. 

II  —  HISTORIC  TENDENCY  TO  GENERAL 
GROUPINGS  OF  Six 

Now  these  six  moral  and  physical  types,  so 
distinct,  are  nothing  else  than  the  extension  of 
our  energy  in  one  of  the  six  directions  into  which 


92  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

the  three  dimensions  of  space  divide  themselves: 
—  height  (upward,  downward),  breadth  (to  right, 
to  left),  depth  (before  and  behind).  Already  the 
organs  of  our  bodies  are  adapted  to  these  six 
directions:  our  legs  carry  us  forward  and  back- 
ward, our  arms  extend  to  right  and  left,  while,  in 
an  eternal  antithesis,  our  heads  look  upward 
and  the  weight  of  our  bodies  draws  us  downward. 

Now  the  SOUL  cannot  escape  these  conditions, 
whether  we  regard  spiritual  energy  as  simply  a 
subtilization  of  physical  energy,  or  whether  we 
see  in  the  latter  but  a  symbol  of  the  soul.  If 
the  soul  dwell  upon  vulgar  things,  it  ABASES 
itself,  as  we  say;  it  UPLIFTS  itself  toward  God  in 
its  expansion  and  detachment  from  earthly  things ; 
it  inclines  toward  the  RIGHT,  so  to  speak,  in 
actions  clearly  governed  by  the  will,  and  to  the 
LEFT  in  those  governed  by  emotional  impulse;  to 
"possess,"  is  not  this  to  be  held  BACK,  and  to 
"manifest"  to  go  FORWARD? 

To  manifest  and  to  possess,  to  act  and  to  feel, 
to  idealize  and  to  materialize,  — is  not  this  the 
whole  of  life? 

We  see  the  Orator,  "rising,"  deliver  his  EXOR- 
DIUM. "Before"  him,  "before"  us,  he  places  his 
PROPOSITION.  His  NARRATION,  following,  carries 
us  "back"  with  him  into  the  tyrannical  past. 
He  brandishes,  as  a  sword  in  his  "right"  hand, 


THE  SIX  DIRECTIONS  OP  ACTION  03 

his  CONFIRMATION,  and,  to  the  "left,"  wards  off 
sinister  attacks  with  the  buckler  of  his  REFUTA- 
TION. Then  his  discourse  "descends"  and  ends 
with  the  PERORATION.  Such,  according  to  Rhe- 
toric, are  the  six  parts  of  an  oration;  the  six 
directions  of  its  force. 

Poetry  also,  if  we  believe  Aristotle,  contains 
six  corresponding  parts.  And  the  Politics  of 
Plato  enumerates  six  types  of  government :  — 
the  objective  and  majestic  MONARCHY,  the 
abstract  and  lofty  ARISTOCRACY,  the  military  and 
active  TlMOCRACY,  the  materialistic  OLIGARCHY 
of  the  plutocrats,  the  sentimental  DEMOCRACY 
of  the  masses,  and  the  jealous  TYRANNY.  They 
succeed  one  another  inevitably  in  the  same  order, 
and  the  philosopher  seeks  not  merely  an  image, 
but  THE  CAUSE,  in  the  six  types  of  human  char- 
acter, —  which  is  to  say,  for  us,  in  their  six 
"attitudes"  respecting  the  passions 

There  were  too  (was  it  for  this  reason?)  six 
Classes  in  Rome,  —  as  there  were  six  cases  in  its 
declensions,  one  reflects  with  a  smile.  And  Physics, 
which  in  nature  envisages  only  force,  only  energy, 
—  is  it  not  also  divided  into  six  parts?  Does  not 
Crystallography  reduce  all  its  polyhedrons  to  six 
groups  of  forms? 

And,  if  we  would  amuse  ourselves  longer  with 
these  butterfly-flights  which  are  called  Analogies 


94  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

(and  which  likewise  begin  in  childish  poetic 
caprice,  to  end  perhaps  as  a  science),  we  may 
still  cite  the  six  "days"  or  periods  of  Creation, 
which,  fifty-two  times  a  year,  the  Christian, 
Jewish  and  Moslem  week  repeats  and  celebrates 
in  its  six  days.* 

The  seventh  period  was  consecrated  to  rest. 
But  Sunday,  according  to  Genesis,  saw  the  birth 
of  light  and  darkness;  Monday,  the  fluids,  air 
and  water;  Tuesday,  the  principal  minerals  and 
vegetables;  Wednesday,  the  astronomical  organ- 
ization of  our  sun  and  stars;  Thursday,  the  fish 
and  birds  of  our  earth;  Friday,  the  terrestrial 
animals  and  humanity. 

The  six  gods  early  established  over  these  six 
days  correspond  to  the  six  types  which  we  have 
just  drawn  from  the  four  temperaments  com- 
bined two  by  two.  The  Sun-god  is  our  Sensitive, 
the  Moon  our  jealous  Possessive;  Mars  is  our 
Active,  virile  and  brutal;  the  ingenious  Mercury 
is  our  Intellectual,  the  majestic  Jupiter  our 
Objective  and  the  sensual  Venus  our  Physical. 

These  six  types  have  had  an  incomparable 
fortune;  not  only  have  they  served  all  the  Middle 
Ages  and  the  Renaissance,  but  we  find  them, 

"The  Mass  is  also  divided  into  six  principal  parts.  Each  one  sym- 
bolizes one  of  the  moments  of  the  Passion,  center  and  resume  of  the 
world's  history. 


THE  SIX  DIRECTIONS  OF  ACTION  96 

clearly  specified,  in  Shakespeare,  who  makes 
constant  allusion  to  them*  and  evidently  constructs 
from  them  a  method  for  his  classification  of  men. 
We  find  them  again  in  Schiller,  who  seems  for 
a  time  to  have  preferred  them  to  the  four  primi- 
tive temperaments  dear  to  his  master  Kant.** 

Ill  —  ANALOGOUS  GROUPINGS  OF 
SEVEN  AND  THREE 

As  for  the  seventh  type,  that  of  Saturn,  it 
has  been  little  used  except  by  dullards  who  have 
corrupted  the  system.  It  rests,  in  effect,  on  the 
superstitious  idea  of  Evil  Fortune.  Its  charac- 
ters are  alternately  those  of  the  six  others,  — 
obscured  by  this  conception,  which,  as  we  shall 
see  further  on,  is  one  of  the  subdivisions  of  Apollo, 
stripped  of  personal  passion.  If  vicious,  it  cor- 
responds to  the  type  of  Venus,  and  if  cold,  to 
Diana;  dry  and  abstract,  to  the  intellectual 
Mercury;  hard  and  destructive,  to  Mars. 

It  seems  to  have  been  invented  merely  for  the 
sake  of  reaching  the  cabalistic  number  of  7.  All 
the  personages,  human  or  divine,  of  this  seventh 
class,  may  be  reduced  to  the  number  of  half  a 
dozen,  by  the  fact  that  they  all  contain  a  compo- 
site and  central  type.  This  keeps,  from  the 
depths  at  which  we  see  it,  the  too  bright  or  too 

*See,  for  example,  the  portrait  which  Hamlet  draws  of  his  father. 
**Wallenstein,  etc. 


96  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

sombre  color  of  its  origin.  Of  the  seven  princes  of 
the  Devs,  six  are  thus  subordinated  to  the  sinister 
Ahriman,  whose  emanations  they  represent,  and 
the  seven  Amschasfands,  for  their  part,  signify 
simply  the  six  Gahanbars  (each  placed  over  a 
season  or  double-month  of  the  year),  plus  the 
Universal  Ormuz. 

For,  although  we  prefer  to  divide  the  year  into 
four  seasons,  in  which  we  have  seen  above  sug- 
gestive analogies  with  the  temperaments,  races, 
ages,  centuries,  parts  of  the  day  and  of  the  world 
which  it  lights,  — we  should  not  forget  that  it 
is  not  NECESSARILY  thus  divided.  And  it  has 
not  always  been  thus  divided,  as  we  have  just 
observed  in  the  case  of  the  Persian  year,  and  as 
we  may  observe  in  the  case  of  the  liturgic  year, 
also  divided  into  six  parts,  but  unequal  ones:  — 
Advent,  Christmas  season,  Septuagesima,  Lent, 
Paschal  season  and  the  season  after  Pentecost. 

The  Greeks,  too,  showed  perhaps  a  finer  sense 
of  life  than  ours  when  thsy  recognized  but  three 
seasons :  —  Ear,  Op6ra  and  Chim6n,  or  the 
Green,  the  Fruitful  and  the  Sad.  They  identi- 
fied these  with  the  Beotian  Thallo,  Carpo  and 
Auxo,  symbolizing  Flower,  Fruit  and  Growth; 
with  the  Cretan  Irene,  Eunomia  and  Dirce 
(Harmony,  Power,  Justice),  more  abstract,  but 
having  the  same  profound  significance;  they 


THE  SIX  DIRECTIONS  OF  ACTION  97 

compared  them  to  the  three  Graces,  the  gentle 
Aglaia,  the  joyous  Euphrosyne  and  Thalia  of 
the  feasts;  to  the  three  Gorgons,  to  the  three 
Sirens  and  to  the  three  Eumenides,  whose  roles 
in  destiny  we  know.  It  is  this  habit  of  mind 
which  explains  how  Aristotle,  by  analogy,  draws 
in  his  ''Poetics"  but  three  ages  of  man:  — Youth, 
Maturity  and  Age,  —  although,  accustomed  to 
our  four  seasons,  we  moderns  tend  always  to 
insert  a  fourth. 

Observe  that  the  three  seasons  of  the  Greeks 
readily  divide  themselves  into  the  six  of  the 
Persians:  —  Season  of  Buds  and  Season  of  Foliage; 
Season  of  Harvest  and  Season  of  Vintage;  Season 
of  Darkness  and  Season  of  Snow. 

Although  some  of  these  divisions  may  appear 
variable,  because  they  blend  into  one  another 
like  the  colors  of  the  spectrum,  we  cannot  there- 
fore pronounce  them  artificial  and  unreal.  Such 
an  ingratitude  to  Analogies,  so  constantly  fecund 
in  the  human  mind,  would  be  both  precipitate 
and  imprudent. 


The  Art  of  Invention 

CHAPTER   VII 
I  — PYTHAGORAS;  PHILOSOPHIC  ROMANTICISM 

Numbers,  wherein  we  moderns  see  nothing  but 
figures,  are  not  so  dead  and  inert  as  we  have 
decreed.  A  strange  sentence,  indeed,  which  we 
have  not  passed  on  anything  else  in  this  vast 
universe,  wherein  we  pique  ourselves  on  finding, 
singing  and  celebrating  only  "Life!" 

Number  also  is  a  part  of  Life.  It  is  Rhythm. 
Perhaps  it  shows  itself  even  more  essentially 
living  than  most  of  our  sensations,  and,  far  from 
being  a  mere  convention  established  by  prehistoric 
arithmeticians,  has  as  its  origin  in  ourselves  the 
very  beat  of  our  hearts. 

This  exclusion  of  Number  presents  an  incom- 
prehensible anomaly.  All  our  sciences,  —  Astron- 
omy, Physics,  Mechanics,  Chemistry,  —  are  based 
on  Mathematics,  whose  importance  increases  from 
day  to  day;  Philosophy  alone,  although  open  to  all 
these  sciences  which  everywhere  encompass  it, 
remains  inhospitably  closed  to  the  master  of  them 
all.  Upon  Number  alone  and  its  nature  does 
Philosophy  refuse  to  meditate.  It  is  perhaps 
needless  to  seek  further  for  the  cause  of  that 
decadence  into  which  it  is  irresistibly  slipping,  and 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTION  99 

of  its  visible  impotence  before  moral  and  meta- 
physical questions,  which  it  persists  in  treating 
according  to  the  worn-out  processes  of  a  banal 
lifeless  scholasticism,  in  the  paltry  style  of  an  old 
professor  of  rhetoric  attempting  to  produce 
literature. 

And  this  because,  since  the  time  of  Pythagoras, 
we  have  completely  lost  our  perception  of  the 
simple,  warm,  natural  life  of  Numbers.  That 
great  thinker,  earliest  of  the  philosophers,  has 
been  ridiculously  deformed  by  legend.  We  should 
not  forget,  nevertheless,  that  from  his  school  came 
Aeschylus,  creator  of  Tragedy,  Epicharmus, 
founder  of  Comedy,  and  a  hundred  other  poets, 
mathematicians,  artists,  legislators,  naturalists, — 
all  creators,  who  in  reality  constituted  the  Hellenic 
grandeur,  the  origin  of  our  civilization.  A 
Socrates,  a  Plato,  an  Aristotle  represent,  in  fact, 
but  the  second  outpouring  of  Greek  thought. 

Again,  we  should  recall  the  unanimous  testimony 
of  the  ancients.  This  same  Pythagoras  whom  we 
see,  on  the  solemn  eve  of  the  Medic  Wars,  inspiring 
the  minds  of  their  heroes  and  of  the  geniuses  of  the 
Age  of  Pericles,  is  believed  to  have  revived  the 
tradition  of  teachings  attributed,  more  or  less 
authentically,  to  that  Orpheus  whom  we  find,  near 
the  epoch  of  Troy,  in  the  dawn  of  that  other  great 
epoch  of  Greece,  which  gave  us  Homer  and  Hesiod. 


100  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Is  it  surprising  to  discover  that  in  this  Orpheo- 
Pythagoric  teaching,  although  today  disdained, 
there  lies  a  treasure  of  human  thought? 

Unhappily,  Orphism  and  Pythagorism  have 
only  come  down  to  us  disfigured  in  the  most 
ridiculous  fashion,  first  by  the  Alexandrine  char- 
latans and  later  by  those  of  the  Renaissance,  — 
that  is  to  say,  by  the  decay  of  the  two  great 
original  eras  of  Europe,  the  Greek  and  the  Med- 
iaeval. This  does  not  at  all  signify,  however,  that 
at  the  end  of  the  first  the  authentic  documents  of 
Pythagorism  had  disappeared.  On  the  contrary, 
we  find  the  powerful  influence  of  the  doctrine,  — 
its  spirit  of  ANALOGY,  and  particularly  of  numer- 
ical analogy,  —  in  almost  all  the  best  thought  of 
the  Middle  Ages  (notably  in  theological  writings), 
thought  thereby  far  removed  from  our  own,  but 
thereby  akin  to  that  of  Greece  and  Asia. 

It  is  possible  that  the  last  Pythagoric  works  may 
have  finally  disappeared,  with  so  many  others,  at 
the  time  of  the  Hundred  Years  War  and  the 
Turkish  invasion  of  Europe.  Let  us  not  forget 
that,  ignorant  as  we  still  are  of  mediaeval  litera- 
ture, we  can  necessarily  form  but  a  very  incomplete 
idea  of  its  sources.  Only  the  survival  of  these  old 
Hellenic  writings  can  explain  that  extraordinary 
MELANGE  of  marvellously  suggestive  passages, 
otherwise  inaccountable,  and  of  base  absurdities 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTION  101 

which  forms  the  "hermetic"  books  of  the  15th  and 
16th  centuries.  It  was  said,  indeed,  even  during 
the  lifetime  of  Cornelius  Agrippa,  —  that  intrigu- 
ing boaster  whose  OCCULT  PHILOSOPHY  contains, 
besides  its  superstitious  imbecilities,  the  curious 
relationships  of  his  Analogical  Tables,  —  that  this 
noisy  wizard  had  merely  plagiarized  unintelli- 
gently  a  manuscript  of  the  Arabian  Picatrix,  which 
was  at  that  time  to  be  found  in  the  library  of  the 
Kings  of  Spain.  It  is  needless  to  recall  how  many 
Greek  works  have  come  to  us  by  way  of  the  Arabs, 
—  or  how  many  have  been  lost  which  they 
possessed. 

The  philosophy  of  the  ancients  comes  to  us 
today  with  its  most  vigorous  half  amputated,  so  to 
speak.  By  a  singular  tradition,  the  philosophic 
teaching  of  modern  peoples  disguises  this  formid- 
able mutilation.  It  invites  us  to  glide  over  so 
disturbing  a  subject.  Nevertheless,  if  ever  that 
prodigious  lacuna  should  be  filled  by  the  reappear- 
ance of  the  Pythagoric  writings  so  esteemed  by  all 
the  Greek  thinkers  (for  neither  Aristotle  nor  Plato, 
nor  any  of  their  rivals  of  the  old  school,  manifested 
any  of  our  disdain  for  them)  a  veritable  revolution, 
comparable  to  that  of  romanticism  in  literature, 
will  be  produced  in  our  philosophy,  so  erudite, 
subtile,  purist  like  the  last  classics,  difficult, 
minute  and  particular,  but  curtailed,  narrow  and 
"scholastic"  in  the  etymological  sense  of  the  word! 


102  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Great  is  the  distance  from  these  mere  academic 
games  to  those  antique  doctrines  each  of  which 
founded  a  civilization!  The  Greek  sage  appears 
intimately  and  naturally  mingled  with  the  tumul- 
tuous life  of  the  people,  which  he  expressed  and 
transformed,  almost  in  the  fashion  of  the  founders 
of  our  religious  orders.  Whereas,  coldly  with- 
drawn from  the  public  to  the  fireside  and  the 
library,  our  philosophy  of  professors  and  of  themes, 
by  its  evident  impotence,  yields  place  to  the  gross 
empiricism  of  the  modern  leaders  of  men  and  of 
those  writers  and  artists  who  inspire  them. 
Between  the  imitation  of  defunct  ages  and  the 
ugliness  of  formless  personality  the  last  three 
centuries  have  oscillated,  with  no  bold  new  har- 
monies to  meet  the  storms  of  the  future. 

To  the  Greek  so  admirably  endowed,  —  and 
also,  it  must  be  remembered,  not  yet  desiccated 
and  hardened  by  an  artificial  and  inelastic  learn- 
ing, —  mathematical  formulae  sang  like  chords. 
The  smallest  new  discovery  of  this  kind,  instead  of 
being  limited  to  scientific  and  mechanical  applica- 
tions, penetrated  him  throughout,  thrilled  his 
nerves  and  muscles  and  communicated  its  vibra- 
tion to  all  his  thoughts,  by  its  analogies,  —  inexact, 
no  doubt,  as  they  always  are,  and  as  he  knew,  but 
so  much  the  more  fecund.  When  the  Infinite 
opens  itself  to  our  souls,  the  classification  of  their 
responding  impulses  which  is  least  artificial  is  that 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTION  103 

which  assumes  a  mathematical  character,  since  it 
is  Mathematics  alone  which  challenges  the  Infinite 
to  all  possible  combinations. 

Do  we  begin  to  perceive  —  what  I  seek  to 
suggest  rather  than  to  demonstrate  —  the  pro- 
fundity of  the  Pythagorean  conception? 

It  is  certain  that  no  treason  could  be  more  fatal 
to  it,  —  and  in  fact  none  has  been,  — than  the 
inept  numerical  superstitions  of  Alexandrine  and 
of  modern  hermeticism.  For  to  limit  certain 
numbers  to  some  narrow  meaning,  to  reduce  to 
some  exclusive  property  their  enormous  fecundity, 
is  to  go  precisely  contrary  to  the  great  Thinker  to 
whom  these  vile  charlatans  pretend  to  be  attached, 
but  whose  deadly  parasites  they  are. 

Even  M.  Chaignet,  in  his  conscientious  work  on 
Pythagoras,  has  done  little  but  strive  with  the 
superstitions  which  these  gentry  have  heaped 
about  this  great  name,  and  whose  crying  contra- 
dictions dishearten  this  excellent  scholar,  even 
while  he  seems  to  perceive  behind  them,  —  though 
he  lacks  the  power  to  seize  it  amid  their  conflicts  — 
something  lofty,  rational,  philosophic;  in  a  word, 
truly  Greek. 

In  short,  the  monument  yet  remains  to  be 
raised  by  our  own  strength.  I  believe  that  the 
surest  method  will  be  the  humblest:  to  gather 
patiently,  in  a  sort  of  dictionary,  the  numerical 


104      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

analogies,  extending  them  progressively  to  all 
things  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  at  least  as 
far  as  possible;  then  to  seek  in  some  way  to  mul- 
tiply them  by  means  of  the  known  laws  of  arithmet- 
ical combinations;  to  note  with  care,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  point  at  which  each  one  of  these  anal- 
ogies ceases  to  be  exact,  and  to  try  to  trace  thus 
a  sort  of  provisory  limit  which  will  give  them  a 
contour,  a  physiognomy  less  arbitrary  and  espe- 
cially less  limited  than  that  inflicted  by  superstition 
upon  the  numbers  13,  7,  etc. 

Ill— VARIOUS  NUMERICAL  GROUPINGS 

Strange  work  this,  to  be  sure,  the  aspect  of 
which  will  perhaps  be  excused  in  view  of  the  end  to 
be  attained,  so  far  distant,  and  of  the  utter  lack  of 
methods  for  its  attainment  from  which  our  age 
suffers.  Christopher  Columbus  had  to  do  without 
charts  for  his  first  voyage,  although  his  forerunners 
had  probably  perished  for  that  reason. 

So,  for  example,  in  this  expedition  toward  the 
antipodes  of  known  common  sense,  we  can  observe, 
with  regard  to  Odd  and  Even  Numbers,  the  habit- 
ual and  instinctive  preference  of  scientific  classifi- 
cations for  the  latter.  It  seems,  in  fact,  that  the 
Odd  Numbers,  and  especially  the  Prime  Numbers, 
draw  us  slily  toward  the  artificial.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  Even  Numbers,  thanks  to  their  common 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTION  105 

root  2,  show  themselves  favorable  to  subdivisions, 
and  likewise  to  a  liberty  of  research  which  is  more 
hospitable  to  ulterior  discoveries. 

Let  us  take  another  example,  this  time  from 
nature.  A  group  of  friends  most  commonly 
comprises  three,  plus  an  additional  one  who 
serves  as  a  lien  with  other  groups,  thus  leading  the 
first  three  to  collective  action.  This  curious  law 
has  been  perceived  and  brought  to  light  by  the 
authors  (of  mentalities  so  different)  of  THE  THREE 
MUSKETEERS,  of  WITH  FIRE  AND  SWORD,  and  of 

L'CEUVRE. 

Now  this  sentimental  law  manifests  at  the  base 
of  the  family.  A  child  forms,  like  the  fourth 
friend,  a  lien  between  two  groups,  —  here  two 
families,  the  one  represented  by  a  man  and  his  two 
parents,  the  other  by  a  woman  and  hers. 

And  in  each  group  of  friends  (3  -f-  1)  we  may 
observe  the  roles,  firm  and  paternal  of  one,  indul- 
gent and  maternal  of  another,  adventurous  of  a 
third,  and  of  the  fourth  a  role  of  transition  to  the 
second  group  of  3.  These  friends  sometimes 
exchange  their  roles,  perhaps  even  assume  each 
one  of  them  in  turn.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  it  will 
be  necessary  to  seek  here  the  "limit"  of  which  I 
have  spoken. 

We  shall  have,  on  the  other  hand,  to  count  the 
number  of  friendly  groups,  connected  as  I  have 


106  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

just  indicated,  which  is  necessary  and  sufficient  to 
constitute  a  society,  a  salon,  etc.  The  ancients 
held  that  guests  should  not  be  fewer  in  number 
than  the  Graces  (3  or  4),  nor  more  than  the  Muses. 
Must  we  understand  by  this  that  a  third  complete 
group  will  lead  to  inharmonious  divisions,  with  a 
majority  and  a  minority? 

Let  us  pass,  from  these  first  examples  of  a 
psychology  singular  because  unfamiliar,  but  never- 
theless founded  on  experience,  to  the  deeper  work 
of  Numerical  Analogies,  which  we  may  arrange  in 
tables,  in  a  sort  of  atlas  or  dictionary. 

The  table  of  Dualities  is  one  of  the  most  instruc- 
tive. Let  us  enumerate  first,  without  comment  or 
order,  some  of  the  most  renowned:  Day  and  Night, 
Black  and  White,  God  and  Satan,  Ormuz  and 
Ahriman,  Jesus  and  Judas,  Cain  and  Abel,  Good 
and  Bad,  the  Laugh  and  the  Tear,  Great  and 
Small,  Man  and  Woman,  Telescope  and  Micro- 
scope, Aryans  and  Semites,  Idealists  and  Sen- 
sualists, Masters  and  Slaves,  Metaphysics  and 
Positive  Science,  Faith  and  Doubt,  Affirmation 
and  Negation,  Authority  and  Liberty,  Dorians  and 
lonians,  Being  and  Non-being,  Stoics  and  Epi- 
cureans, Mine  and  Thine,  Rights  and  Duties, 
Church  and  State,  More  and  Less,  etc. 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  superpose  two  of  these 
Dualities  but  that  there  springs  into  view  —  a 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTION  107 

sort  of  subtraction  working  in  our  minds  —  some 
one  of  the  great  errors  which,  in  consequence  of  an 
unconscious  identification  of  these  dualities,  have 
distracted  and  still  distract  unfortunate  humanity. 
Whence  does  this  come  but  from  the  fact  that  it 
lacks  sufficient  flexibility  of  mind  for  these  ana- 
logical subtractions? 

The  "barbarism"  against  which  the  little  towns 
of  Greece  struggled  when  awakened  by  Pytha- 
gorism,  resided  in  nothing  else  than  this  rigidity. 
Even  among  us,  if  a  professional  agitator  toss  two 
of  these  dualities  to  the  crowd,  unskilled  in  the 
poetic  game  of  comparison,  it  will  instantly  see 
therein  identity,  and  therewith  enrich  the  two 
camps  which,  in  its  simple  eyes,  must  tear  asunder 
and  divide  the  world. 

I  have  intended  here  to  give  an  example  grossly 
visible.  But  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  surprise 
more  than  one  so-called  "intellectual,"  more  than 
one  philosopher,  in  flagrant  offenses  of  the  same 
sort  in  respect  of  certain  dualities.  What,  then 
when  we  pass  from  dualities  to  triads,  to  tetrads, 
and  so  on? 

To  this  day,  no  science  or  system  exists  for 
training  us  to  associate  methodically  all  ideas 
most  remote,  as  well  as  to  dissociate,  not  less 
methodically,  all  ideas  apparently  most  indissolu- 
ble. Our  philosophy  has  well  recognized  the 


108  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

capital  importance  of  association,  and,  more 
recently,  of  dissociation  of  ideas  (a  Nietzschean 
reversal  of  values) ;  nevertheless  it  has  not  thought 
to  seek  a  process  which  enables  us  to  accomplish 
this  work  from  top  to  bottom. 

Numerical  Analogies  furnish  this  precious  proc- 
ess, —  at  least  for  everything  which  is  concerned 
with  the  notion  of  Number  AND  ITS  DERIVATIVES: 
the  notions  of  extent,  of  quantity,  of  duration,  of 
intensity,  of  force,  etc.  And  we  know  that,  from 
day  to  day,  in  all  our  sciences,  a  great  number  of 
ideas  come  back  to  this,  even  some  which  at  first 
we  thought  altogether  refractory. 

Long  ago,  in  a  sublime  presentiment,  Pythagoras 
alone  systematically  led  the  Greek  thinkers  along 
this  path.  We  know  today  that  he  labored  to 
reduce  all  things  to  numerical  relationship, 
although  we  have  unfortunately  lost  the  greater 
part  of  these  relationships,  and  those  which  remain 
to  us  have  been  ridiculously  interpreted,  —  at  the 
same  time  that  the  theory  of  the  Master  was 
travestied  by  the  Alexandrine  charlatans,  to  the 
point  of  rendering  incomprehensible  and  unbe- 
lievable the  influence  it  exercised  upon  the  most 
vigorous  effort  which  has  ever  yet  been  put  forth 
by  human  thought! 

The  poets  alone  have  preserved,  by  pure 
instinct,  a  vague  sense  of  these  things.  We  find  — 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTION  109 

to  turn  again  to  these  gross  and  visible  dualities  — 
the  antithesis  everywhere  in  the  creative  activity 
of  a  Hugo,  for  example. 

We  saw,  when  constituting  our  Four  Tempera- 
ments, how  2  dualities  (Mind  and  Body,  Activity 
and  Passivity)  could,  instead  of  being  reduced, 
according  to  vulgar  custom,  to  a  false  identity,  be 
multiplied  one  by  the  other.  After  which,  com- 
bining 2  by  2  in  their  turn  the  4  elements  thus 
obtained,  \ve  drew  from  them  a  third  duality,  since 
4  elements,  2  by  2,  furnish  6  combinations:  this 
third  duality  was  Objectivity-Subjectivity. 

Let  us  now  amuse  ourselves  by  gathering  triads, 
tetrads,  pentads,  hexads,  heptads.  They  can 
combine  among  themselves  in  a  fashion  equally 
fecund;  not,  be  it  repeated,  by  identifications,  (the 
unconscious  and  habitual  process  of  the  vulgar), 
but  by  means  of  superpositions,  followed  perhaps 
by  a  subtraction  (this  is  the  case  of  all  critical 
comparisons),  perhaps  by  a  multiplication  (we 
have  just  seen  an  example  in  the  generation  of  the 
Four  Temperaments),  perhaps  by  still  other 
operations. 

Let  us  first  enumerate  the  most  celebrated  triads : 

The  3  primary  colors  (red,  yellow  and  blue) 
whose  combinations  engender  the  3  others  (orange, 
green  and  purple).  The  3  persons  of  the  verb, 
whose  augmentation  (plural)  also  doubles  the 


110  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

number.  The  3  forms  of  poetry  which  correspond 
to  them  (I  =  lyric,  THOU  =  dramatic,  HE  =  epic). 
The  3  primitive  conceptions  of  Time,  Space  and 
Number,  carrying  each  one  the  idea  of  a  movement, 
which  necessarily  begins  by  dividing  them.  The 
3  theological  virtues,  which  double  the  3  intellec- 
tual virtues  —  too  little  popularized,  in  truth  — 
intelligence,  knowledge  and  wisdom.  The  3  classes 
of  science  (natural,  physical  and  mathematical), 
not  less  prompt  to  divide  themselves  each  into  two 
groups.  The  ancient  TRIVIUM  (grammar,  rhetoric, 
logic).  The  3  parts  of  rhetoric  (invention,  dis- 
position, execution).  The  3  parts  of  speech.  The 
3  forms  of  the  triangle.  The  3  musical  modes. 
The  elements  of  the  orchestra  (wood,  brass  and 
strings).  The  cousinly  trinity,  the  Good,  the 
True  and  the  Beautiful.  The  3  Greek  Tragics. 
The  no  less  representative  3  Masters  of  Italian 
painting.  The  3  orders  of  classic  architecture. 
The  3  Divine  Persons.  The  parts  of  penitence 
(confession,  contrition,  expiation).  The  divisions 
of  the  body  (head,  thorax,  trunk) ;  of  each  member ; 
of  each  finger.  The  appetites,  according  to  Plato. 
Etc.,  etc. 

We  may  likewise  form  a  list  of  groups  of  Four, 
in  addition  to  those  which  I  have  cited  in  the  chap- 
ter on  the  Temperaments: 

The  4  elements.  The  4  rules  of  arithmetic. 
The  4  cardinal  virtues.  The  4  branches  of  the 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTION  111 

Cross.  The  4  sacred  animals.  The  4  great 
Prophets.  The  4  Evangelists.  The  4  principal 
Fathers  of  the  Church.  The  4  parts  of  the  New 
Testament  (Gospels,  Acts,  Epistles  and  Apoca- 
lypse). The  4  branches  of  philosophy  (realism, 
idealism,  scepticism,  mysticism),  whose  coinci- 
dence with  the  ages  of  man,  of  a  race,  and  seem- 
ingly of  humanity,  Goethe  has  indicated  in  his 
incomparable  PENSEES.  The  4  principles  of  des- 
tiny, according  to  the  same  Goethe  (Daim6n,  Eros, 
Tuche,  Elpis).  The  4  forms  of  animal  locomotion 
(walking,  flying,  swimming,  creeping).  The  4 
divine  raptures,  according  to  the  Greeks  (that  of 
the  Muses,  that  of  Dionysos,  that  of  the  prophetic 
Apollo,  that  of  Aphrodite).  The  materials  of  the 
sacraments  (wine,  oil,  water,  bread).  The  princi- 
pal winds  (Auster,  Zephyr,  Eurus,  Boreas).  The 
point,  the  line,  the  plane  and  the  depth  in  geom- 
etry. The  colors  of  eyes  (black,  blue,  brown  and 
green)  and  of  hair  (black,  blonde,  chestnut  and 
red). 

For  the  Five: — The  senses.  The  arts  (music, 
architecture,  sculpture,  painting  and  poetry). 
The  5  wise  and  the  5  foolish  virgins.  The  fingers. 
The  universals.  The  joyful  mysteries  of  the 
Rosary  (Annunciation,  Visitation,  Nativity,  Puri- 
fication, Finding  the  Child  in  the  Temple),  the 
sorrowful  mysteries  (Gethsemane,  Scourging, 
Crown  of  Thorns,  Bearing  the  Cross,  Crucifixion) 


112  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

and  the  glorious  (Resurrection,  Ascension,  Descent 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Assumption,  Coronation  of 
Mary).  The  acts  of  a  play  (not  only  our  own,  but 
the  Chinese).  The  Chinese  count  also:  5  great 
social  relationships  (between  parents  and  children, 
governors  and  governed,  between  spouses,  between 
friends,  between  old  people  and  young  people),  5 
sorts  of  habiliment,  5  orders  of  great  dignitaries. 

For  Six: — The  parts  of  the  body,  as  indicated 
above.  The  days  of  Creation.  The  double- 
months  of  the  Persians,  and  the  other  examples 
given  in  the  preceding  chapter.  The  kinds  of 
misfortune,  according  to  Chinese  philosophy.  The 
series  of  double-trinities  indicated  above  by  the 
number  3. 

For  Seven: — The  notes  of  the  scale.  The 
planets.  The  Wonders  of  the  World.  The  capi- 
tal sins.  The  parts  of  the  Lord's  Prayer.  The 
heads  of  the  Hydra.  The  branches  of  the  cande- 
labra. Every  pleiad,  astronomic  or  poetic.  The 
orifices  of  the  face.  The  sacraments.  The  sages 
of  Greece.  The  ecclesiastical  orders.  The  7 
series  of  visions  of  the  Apocalypse,  and,  in  the 
first  four,  the  7  churches,  the  7  seals,  the  7  trump- 
ets, the  7  vials,  as  well  as  the  7  heads  of  the  Beast. 
The  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  7  deacons 
instituted  by  the  Apostles.  The  7  words  of  Christ 
on  the  Cross. 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTION  113 

III  —  DISCOVERING  AND  INVENTING 

For  the  triads,  we  shall  arrange  3  vertical 
columns,  between  which  we  shall  divide,  on  a 
horizontal  line,  the  3  terms  of  each  triad,  first  in 
one  order: 

ABC 

A'     B'     C' 

A"    B"    C",  etc. 

then  in  a  second: 

ABC 

A'     C'     B' 

A"    B"    C",  etc. 

then  a  third: 

ABC 
B'  C'  A' 
A'  B"  C' 

then  in  a  fourth,  a  fifth,  a  sixth.  We  may  compare 
each  one  of  these  orders,  — for  there  are  six  pos- 
sible for  each  triad,  —  with  each  of  those  of  every 
other  triad  (the  triads  A  B  C,  A  B  C  and  others). 
And  we  may  note  accordingly  the  ANALOGIES,  the 
CONTRASTS  and  the  DIFFERENCES  perceived  in  the 
course  of  these  comparisons.  We  may  do  the  same 
for  the  tetrads  (each  is  susceptible  of  24  orders)  by 
means  of  4  columns;  for  the  pentads,  the  hexads, 
etc.,  by  means  of  5  and  of  6  columns,  etc. 


114  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

The  ANALOGIES  observed  in  the  course  of  these 
comparisons,  member  by  member,  between  the 
diverse  dyads,  triads,  tetrads,  etc.,  will  be  of 
several  species:  Consequence,  Connection,  Echo, 
etc.  The  CONTRASTS  also:  Duel,  Love,  Exclusion* 
Complementarism,  etc.  The  DIFFERENCES  will  be 
measured  by  means  of  the  "Analogical  Sub- 
traction." 

Of  this  Analogical  Subtraction  I  have  already 
spoken.  It  consists,  as  before  explained,  in  first 
superposing  two  couples,  two  trinities,  two  tetrads, 
etc.  After  which,  we  note  the  difference  or  resem- 
blance between  their  first  members,  between  the 
second,  and  so  on.  Then  we  must  note  whether 
this  difference  or  resemblance  between  the  first 
members  is  equal,  superior  or  inferior  (and  wherein) 
to  that  observed  between  the  second  members, 
then  to  that  between  the  third  and  fourth  mem- 
bers, etc.,  superposed  in  this  operation.  Finally* 
make  similar  comparisons  between  the  second 
members  and  the  third,  the  second  and  the  fourth, 
etc.  These  various  deviations,  once  noted,  will 
continue  to  exactly  define  the  relationship  con- 
necting the  two  dualities,  trinities,  etc.,  which  we 
wish  to  compare. 

It  is  easily  understood  that  we  shall  thus  be  led 
to  the  discovery  of  the  element  which  will  sym- 
metrize the  two  dualities,  trinities,  etc.  The 


THE  ART  OF  INVENTION  115 

"Analogical  Subtraction"  thus  puts  us  in  posses- 
sion of  an  Art  of  Discovering,  an  Art  of  Inventing. 

It  is  of  course  necessary  to  guard,  here  also, 
against  yielding,  in  an  impatient  desire  of  further 
discovery,  to  the  spirit  of  system,  to  hasty  sym- 
metrizing. We  shall,  however,  run  little  risk  of  it 
by  advancing  slowly,  with  a  perpetual  conscious- 
ness of  our  method,  whereas  our  moderns,  who 
fear  to  systematize  voluntarily,  are  constantly 
misled  in  their  groping  course  by  false  symmetries. 

Even  if  the  element  discovered  by  our  Analog- 
ical Subtraction,  instead  of  producing  instantly 
before  our  eyes  the  symmetry  sought,  brings  a 
new  dissymmetry,  this  should  rejoice  us,  for 
instead  of  closing  our  inquiry  it  will  inaugurate  one 
more  extended  and  more  fertile  in  the  unknown. 

I  have  spoken  only  of  Analogical  Subtraction 
between  two  dyads,  triads,  tetrads,  etc.  But  it 
can  be  made  between  each  dyad  and  all  the  other 
dyads,  between  each  triad  and  all  the  others,  and 
so  on.  It  can  be  made  even  between  a  dyad  and 
a  triad,  a  tetrad  or  a  pentad,  etc.  This  operation 
will  offer  great  varieties.  In  short,  one  number  is 
in  diverse  arithmetical  or  geometrical  relations 
with  another.  Thus,  the  three  elements  of  a  triad 
being  disposed  in  SPACE,  and,  for  example,  in  a 
triangle,  the  elements  of  the  tetrad  which  we  wish 
to  compare  with  it  can  be  disposed,  first,  in  a 


116  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

triangle  formed  of  three  from  among  them,  the 
fourth  remaining  at  the  center;  then  in  a  second 
triangle,  a  third,  etc.,  in  which  these  four  elements 
will  change  place  turn  about,  the  fourth  relating 
itself  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  to  the  three  others, 
and  the  triangle  changing  its  proportions.  Then 
we  can  dispose  this  triad  and  this  tetrad  in  TIME, 
that  is  to  say,  their  respective  elements  in  various 
orders  of  succession.  In  this  succession  in  TIME  or 
according  to  a  unilinear  disposition,  the  same 
triad,  tetrad,  etc.,  can  reappear  from  place  to 
place;  or  perhaps  it  will  be  a  pair  or  a  trinity  of 
triads,  tetrads,  etc.,  which  will  reappear.  This 
will  create  a  sort  of  refrain  or  rhythm. 

This  rhythm  will  be  subject,  like  all  rhythms, 
whether  of  music,  poetry  or  form,  to  the  principles, 
evolved  by  decorative  artists,  of  Alternation 
(binary,  ternary,  etc.),  of  Intersection,  of  Sym- 
metry, of  Contrast,  of  Gradation,  ascending  and 
descending,  of  Radiation  and  of  Consonance 
(rhyme,  repetition,  leit-motiv). 

We  can  also  always  dispose  as  to  ACTION  the 
terms  of  two  or  several  dyads,  triads,  etc.,  to  be 
compared  among  themselves,  or  of  a  dyad  to  be 
compared  with  a  triad,  a  tetrad,  a  pentad  and  so 
on.  For  example,  we  will  take  for  subject  and  for 
verb  the  two  superposed  members  of  two  triads,  or 
of  this  triad  and  that  tetrad;  or  for  subject,  verb 
and  predicate  the  three  superposed  members  of 


THE  ART  OP  INVENTION  117 

three  triads,  or  of  two  triads  and  a  tetrad.  In  the 
second  column,  on  the  contrary,  we  will  reverse 
this  grammatical  relationship.  In  the  third,  we 
will  adopt  that  of  the  first  column,  or  that  of  the 
second,  or  both  successively,  unless  we  adopt  a 
new  one.  The  results  once  gathered,  we  may 
change  the  "grammatical"  arrangement  of  each 
column  into  all  the  combinations  not  employed  the 
first  time ;  from  this,  new  results. 

Then,  instead  of  "grammatical"  relationships, 
we  may  arrange  those  of  logic  (causality,  etc.). 

Now,  by  the  examples  which  I  have  just  given, 
we  already  begin  to  perceive  that  there  is  in 
reality  a  whole  science  here  opening  up  before  us, 
and  of  which  we  may  establish,  — with  a  little 
patience,  not  allowing  ourselves  to  be  disheartened 
by  the  initial  difficulties,  — the  tables  of  loga- 
rithms.* 


"The  reader  will  perhaps  ask,  by  way  of  proofs  in  favor  of  this  method, 
what  discoveries  I  have  made  by  it.  I  offer  the  present  work  in  its 
entirety  as  the  result  and  the  proof  of  my  method,  as  the  assembling 
of  the  examples  gives  evidence  of  its  efficacy.  In  no  other  way  was  I 
able  to  bring  into  unity  the  classifications,  often  contradictory,  of 
characters,  temperaments,  world- types,  etc.,  or  to  reduce  to  a  single 
law  of  generation  all  the  polytheisms  of  Chapter  IX.  The  Law  of 
Four-Century  Periods,  the  proof  here  following  of  the  existence  of  a 
single  Homer,  the  minute  analyses  of  characters  created  by  poetry  or 
legend,  and  the  secrets  of  literary  technique  which  I  have  sown  by 
handfuls  through  the  rest  of  this  book  are,  we  may  be  assured,  simply 
the  "remainders"  of  my  Analogical  Subtractions,  simply  the  "unknown  ' 
outlined  by  means  of  the  "Equations"  whose  principal  rules  I  have 
just  indicated,  simply  the  rhythms  obtained  by  patient  comparisons 
of  the  same  elements  transported  from  Time  to  Space,  and  from 
Space  to  Movement  or  Number. 


118      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

They  will  form  a  part,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  of 
the  Pythagorean  studies,  persistent  in  tracking 
down  vague  ideas  (those  idols  of  the  moderns),  to 
master  them,  and  wrest  from  them  a  thousand 
precious  secrets  of  the  Unconscious.  And  thus  I 
would  explain  the  preoccupation  common  to  all  the 
great  men  who  came  from  that  school  unique  in  the 
world,  —  to  all  the  contemporaries  of  that  cen- 
tury which  was  the  most  wonderful  of  Greece  and 
of  all  history,  — that  of  Numerical  Relationships. 

We  find  it  again,  this  obsessing  preoccupation, 
at  the  base  of  their  music ;  we  find  it  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Canon  in  sculpture;  we  find  it  in 
their  architecture,  so  minutely  precise  and  delicate ; 
again  in  the  definitive  design  of  their  lyric  rhythms 
and  in  the  strict  rules  of  their  tragedy;  we  redis- 
cover it  in  that  fixed  idea  of  Proportion  which 
they  carried  everywhere,  into  art,  into  astronomy, 
into  politics,  into  morals.  It  has  for  us  a  character 
literally  SACRED  and  inspiring. 

Pythagqras,  although  he  did  not  create  it, 
revived  it  forcefully  at  a  time  when  Greek  ethnic 
individuality  was  menaced,  a  time  from  which 
dates  also  the  revival  of  favor  for  the  great  national 
Homeric  poetry. 

In  short,  we  find  it  here,  this  spirit  of  Proportion, 
in  such  clearness  that  it  has  enabled  me  to  estab- 
lish, —  despite  the  grave  nonsense  with  which 
German  and  Philistine  philology  has  so  long  stupe- 
fied the  world,  —  the  existence  of  a  unique  Homer, 
which  I  shall  demonstrate. 


Epic  and  Tragedy 

CHAPTER  VIII 
I  — HOMER:  THE  ILIAD  AND  ODYSSEY 

Better  proof  of  Homer's  existence  could  hardly 
be  desired  than  the  perfect  and  mathematical 
symmetry  between  the  two  works  which  he  has 
left,  and  the  strict  internal  symmetry  of  each  of 
them,  —  indication  of  as  tyrannical  a  plan  as 
ever  a  poet  imposed  upon  himself,  and  with 
which  no  two  authors  were  ever  known  to  bind 
each  other.  This  being  demonstrated,  it  appears 
to  me  idle  to  go  on  refuting  the  many  attempted 
refutations  of  the  existence  of  Homer,  — refuta- 
tions which  contradict  one  another  to  an  extent 
truly  comical. 

Wolf,  father  of  the  Zollian  school,  held  that  the 
supposed  primitive  poems  never  existed;  that  the 
works  were  constituted  slowly  by  the  patching 
together  of  many  pieces  of  different  origins  and 
different  epochs.  His  intellectual  descendants, 
Hermann,  Fauriel,  Kayser,  etc.,  held  that  original 
poems  did  exist,  but  in  slight  and  meager  form, 
and  that  they  were  little  by  little  lengthened  by 
additions.  Guigniaut,  in  turn,  attempted  to  show 
that  they  were  simply  achieved  by  the  Homerides, 
after  a  plan  bequeathed  them  by  their  ancestor! 


120  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Croiset,  on  the  contrary,  held  that  the  principal 
parts  of  the  poems  were  the  author's,  but  that  the 
plan  was  of  a  more  recent  epoch,  —  as  well  as 
the  additions  and  connecting  parts  necessary  to 
this  thesis.  Koechly  and  Kirchoff  share  this 
opinion.  But  all  three  differ  as  to  which  are 
the  original  parts  and  which  the  additions. 

All  these  hypotheses  rest,  of  course,  upon  other 
hypotheses:  imbecility  of  Greek  critics,  barbarism 
of  the  period  after  the  taking  of  Troy,  non-exis- 
tence of  the  latter  (which  however  has  since  been 
discovered),  etc. 

The  ILIAD  and  the  ODYSSEY  contain  each  24 
books.  The  author  has  divided  each  into  two 
parts  inversely  symmetrical;  we  call  them  the 
LESSER  ILIAD  (which  goes  from  an  indecisive 
situation  under  the  walls  of  the  city  to  the  shore 
upon  which  the  Greeks  find  themselves  thrown 
back),  and  the  GREATER  ILIAD  (which  goes  from 
this  extreme  point  of  their  weakness  to  the  final 
fall  of  Troy);  the  GREATER  ODYSSEY  (in  which 
Ulysses  wanders,  far  from  Ithaca)  and  the  LESSER 
ODYSSEY  (in  which  he  returns).  Each  of  these 
halves  comprises  exactly  12  books.  If  this  clear 
distribution  of  the  epic  material  be  the  work  of 
grammarians,  then  we  must  regret  that  we  can 
discover  nothing  as  ingenious  in  the  anti-Homeric 
writings  of  ours. 


EPIC  AND  TRAGEDY  121 

Each  half -poem  may  now  be  divided  into  equal 
groups: 

ILIAD 

LESSER  ILIAD  (Books  I-XII).  The  first  of 
the  two  groups  (I-VI)  confines  itself,  very  logi- 
cally, to  the  EPHEMERAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE 
GREEKS.  The  second  (VII-XII)  to  THEIR  INFER- 
IORITY MORE  AND  MORE  DISASTROUS;  in  the  second 
shines  Hector  (who  appeared  only  episodically 
in  the  first,  which  ends  with  the  famous  farewell 
to  Andromache);  since  in  his  strength  lies  the 
weakness  of  the  Achaians,  it  follows,  in  effect, 
that  by  his  presence  is  personified  the  distress  to 
which  the  anger  of  Achilles  has  abandoned  them. 
And  here  Hector  watches  and  fights  without  rest 
on  the  field  of  combat. 

GREATER  ILIAD   (Books  XIII-XXIV).    This, 

in  the  first  part,  consists  of  the  DESPERATE  STRIFE 
ON  THE  SHORE.  Near  the  beginning  of  the  second 
part,  on  the  contrary,  Achilles  solemnly  renounces 
his  rancor,  the  cause  of  the  three  periods  just 
ended,  and  this  last  quarter  of  the  poem  con- 
sequently narrates  only  HIS  EXPLOITS  (XIX- 
XXIV)  which  are  thus  pendant  to  those  of  the 
Trojan  heroes.  Likewise  are  Books  XIII-XVIII 
(DESPERATE  STRIFE)  pendant  to  I-VI  (EPHEMERAL 
ADVANTAGES).  Thus  the  four  parts  of  this  tragic 
symphony,  far  from  exhibiting  the  confusion 
which  nineteenth-century  criticism  has  stupidly 


122     THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

ascribed    to    them,    are    framed    with    faultless 
symmetry. 

Let  us  range  the  six  books  of  each  part  in  four 
parallel  columns,  according  to  the  manner  in 
which  they  thus  correspond: 

LESSER  ILIAD  GREATER  ILIAD 

I  VII  XIII  XIX 

II  VIII  XIV  XX 

III  IX  XV  XXI 

IV  X  XVI  XXII 

V  XI  XVII  XXIII 

VI  XII  XVIII  XXIV 

The  first  books  of  these  columns  (I,  VII,  XIII, 
XIX),  recounting  CONFLICTS  IN  WHICH  FOUR 
HEROES,  ALMOST  EQUAL,  ARE  MATCHED  TWO  BY 
TWO,  are  filled  with  alarming  discords,  whose 
wailing  reminds  us  of  those  which  open  the 
"Funeral  March"  of  the  musical  Homer. 

Book  I :  —  The  impiety  of  Agamemnon ;  the 
pestilence.  Then  the  injustice  of  the  king  of 
kings;  the  discord  between  the  chiefs,  and  the 
departure  of  Achilles. 

Book  VII :  —  The  two  next  most  redoubtable 
adversaries  engage  in  combat,  Hector  and  Ajax; 
which  will  triumph?  Night  puts  an  end  to  the 
unsolved  question.  Sepulture  of  the  dead,  whose 
funeral  pyres  illumine  the  darkness.  The  terrible 
presages  of  the  Gods 


EPIC  AND  TRAGEDY  123 

Book  XIII: — Ajax  and  Hector  dispute  anew; 
they  passionately  insult  one  another.  This  time 
the  struggle  takes  place  among  the  ships.  Ido- 
meneus  strikes  in  vain. 

Book  XIX: — Achilles  returns  and  renounces 
his  resentment;  Agamemnon  relinquishes  Briseis; 
all  the  rude  caprices  of  the  first  book  are  at  an 
end.  Achilles  weeps  bitterly  over  Patroclus. 

Shall  we  now  take  the  second  book  of  each  of 
these  half  dozens?  They  will  tell  us,  four  times, 
of  the  solemn  INTERVENTION  OF  THE  GODS  in  the 
conflict:  a  thrilling  pause  follows  the  short  foot- 
falls of  the  opening,  that  their  menace  may  be 
the  better  apprehended. 

Here  (Book  II)  is  the  deceptive  dream  sent  by 
Zeus,  which  is  followed  by  preparations  and  by 
the  assembling  of  the  troops.  The  Goddesses, 
in  Book  VIII,  are  with  difficulty  kept  within 
bounds  by  their  master  and  king;  the  prayers  of 
Hera  have  obtained  a  momentary  success  for  the 
Greeks,  but  the  Goddesses  attempted  disobedience 
quickly  brings  about  their  repulse.  In  Book 
XIV  Hera  naturally  takes  her  revenge:  she  has 
lulled  Zeus  to  sleep,  and  the  anti-Zeus,  Poseidon, 
springs  to  the  aid  of  the  Greeks.  In  Book  XX 
all  the  Gods  descend  to  the  combat! 

The  third  books  of  these  four  groups  show 
invariably  the  ACTION  BROUGHT  ON  IN  A  NEW 


124  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

WAY,  BUT  ALWAYS  IN  VAIN.  The  duel  of  Meme- 
laus  and  Paris,  which  might  settle  the  quarrel  of 
the  two  peoples,  does  not  take  place,  Paris  being 
miraculously  carried  away  (Book  III).  The 
embassy  to  Achilles,  another  attempt  at  the 
decisive,  also  fails  (IX).  The  Greeks,  favored 
by  the  slumber  of  Zeus,  lose  all  their  advantages 
on  his  awakening;  they  are  even  driven  back  to 
their  ships;  already  that  of  Protesilaus  takes 
fire  (XV).  Achilles  in  person  meets  a  conqueror 
in  the  river-god  Xanthus;  he,  however,  is  stopped 
by  the  Gods,  who  find,  in  their  turn,  among  their 
own  race,  adversaries  impossible  to  overthrow 
(XXI).  All  solutions  here  appear  impossible. 

The  fourth  book  of  each  series  (IV,  X,  XVI, 
XXII)  is  that  of  GREAT  CATASTROPHES:  breaking 
off  of  the  truce;  Pandaros  treacherously  wound- 
ing Menelaus  (IV);  the  deaths  of  Dolon  and 
especially  of  Rhesus  assassinated  in  his  tent, 
repay  one  treachery  with  another  (X).  And 
if  —  to  underline  once  more  these  antitheses  — 
Patroclus  is  killed  in  Book  XVI,  Hector,  succumb- 
ing in  the  corresponding  book  (XXII)  pays,  accord- 
ing to  the  same  law  of  composition,  for  his  death. 

The  fifth  books,  on  the  contrary,  are  devoted 
to  the  glory  of  the  heroes:  the  EXPLOITS  OF  DlO- 
MEDES  give  title  to  Book  V,  as  the  EXPLOITS  OF 

AGAMEMNON  to  Book  XI  and  those  of  MENELAUS 


EPIC  AND  TRAGEDY  125 

to  XVII.  What  plainer  signs  of  symmetry  could 
be  desired?  If  Book  XXIII  is  that  of  the  FUN- 
ERAL GAMES  IN  HONOR  OF  PATROCLUS,  does  not 
this  mighty  apotheosis  offer  an  even  more  striking 
MISE  EN  SCENE  than  his  exploits? 

Finally,  the  sixth  book  of  each  series  terminates 
the  threnody,  —  at  first  mournful,  then  religious, 
then  violent  and  sterile  as  the  billows,  then 
lamenting  an  illustrious  warrior,  then  singing  the 
praise  of  another,  —  with  a  final  sigh  of  elegies 
and  tears.  Ready  to  rejoin  the  fatal  Paris, 
Hector  clasps  his  Andromache  at  the  Scaean  gate 
(Book  VI);  exhausted,  the  Greeks  yield  their 
wall  condemned  by  the  Gods  (XII);  Thetis,  in 
tears,  has  the  arms  forged  in  which  her  son  will 
perish  (XVIII).  Priam  brings  back  the  body 
of  his  son  amid  the  wailing  of  the  Trojans  (XXIV) . 

ODYSSEY 

Such  long  connected  threads,  such  broad  sur- 
faces could  not  be  carried  from  a  work  of  war 
through  a  pleasanter  and  more  varied  narrative. 
The  means  of  changing  and  varying  which  occurred 
to  the  author  were  found  in  a  different  division 
of  the  same  number  of  books;  the  framework 
remaining  identical  (24  =  2X12),  he  changed  the 
internal  distribution.  The  division  of  each  half 
of  the  poem  was  in  this  case  ternary.  It  thus 
furnished  the  poetic  creator  —  a  SINGLE  creator, 


126  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

as  I  think  we  begin  to  see  —  an  aspect  exactly 
COMPLEMENTARY  to  the  first,  which,  as  we  have 
just  seen,  rested  on  a  binary  division.  Homer 
here  gained,  at  a  stroke,  smaller  surfaces  (groups 
of  four  books  instead  of  six)  to  be  more  delicately 
sculptured,  and  at  the  same  time  an  ENSEMBLE 
less  bare  and  simple. 

GREAT  ODYSSEY  LESSER  ODYSSEY 

I  V          IX  XIII     XVII       XXI 

II  VI         X  XIV      XVIII     XXII 

III  VII        XI  XV        XIX         XXIII 

IV  VIII      XII  XVI       XX          XXIV 

GREATER  ODYSSEY  (Books  I-XII) :  —  The  first 

of  the  three  groups  (I-IV)  shows  ITHACA  WITHOUT 
ULYSSES;  the  second  (V-VIII)  ULYSSES,  UNKNOWN, 
AMONG  THE  PHEACIANS;  the  third  (IX-XII)  the 

NARRATIVES  OF  ULYSSES  (HIS  DISTANT  ADVEN- 
TURES). 

LESSER  ODYSSEY  (Books  XIII-XXIV) :  —  Here 
first  is  ULYSSES  IN  ITHACA  (XIII-XVI);  then 
ULYSSES,  UNKNOWN,  IN  HIS  OWN  PALACE  (XVII- 

XX);  lastly,  the  EXPLOITS  BY  WHICH  HE  RECON- 
QUERS HIS  THRONE  (XXI-XXIV). 

These  two  triads  are  perfectly  balanced. 
ITHACA  WITHOUT  ULYSSES  and  ULYSSES  IN 

ITHACA;  ULYSSES,  UNKNOWN,  IN  THE  STRANGERS' 
PALACE  and  ULYSSES,  UNKNOWN,  IN  HIS  OWN 
PALACE;  DISTANT  ADVENTURES  and  ADVENTURES 


EPIC  AND  TRAGEDY  127 

IN  HIS  OWN  COUNTRY, —like  the  two  dyads  of 
the  Iliad:  EPHEMERAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE 
GREEKS  and  their  DESPERATE  STRUGGLE  ON  THE 

SHORE;  VICTORIES  OF  HECTOR  and  TRIUMPH  OF 
ACHILLES.  Here,  then,  is  the  same  esthetic, 
based  on  Number,  which  Pythagoras  is  later  to 
define  as  "Analogy." 

Here,  likewise,  the  first  books  of  the  groups 
present  analogous  situations:  A  HERO  IN  GREAT 
WEAKNESS  WHO  NEVERTHELESS  ACQUITS  HIMSELF 
WITH  COURAGE:  Telemachus  alone  among  the 
suitors  (I) ;  Ulysses  clinging  to  a  wreck  in  the 
tempest  (V);  again  when  he  and  his  escape  from 
Polyphemus  (IX);  again,  alone,  when  he  awakes 
abandoned  in  Ithaca  and  does  not  recognize  it 
(XIII);  when  he  enters,  a  scorned  beggar,  his 
pillaged  palace  (XVII);  when  this  beggar  puts 
his  hand  to  the  great  bow  which  the  suitors  can- 
not bend  (XXI). 

And  the  second  book  of  each  series  offers,  in 
recompense,  A  MAN  SUFFERING  REVERSES,  BUT 
AIDED  BY  A  KIND  INTERVENTION.  After  the  gather- 
ing of  the  suitors,  the  assembling  of  the  people; 
and,  if  they  refuse  Telemachus  the  vessel  he  ask  , 
the  w.ise  Mentor  promises  him  one  (II).  To 
Ulysses,  destitute  and  naked,  Nausicaa  gives 
garments  (VI).  Against  Circe,  Hermes  forearms 
him  (X).  In  his  distress  he  meets  with  the 
fidelity  of  the  humble  Eumaeus  (XIV).  Penelope, 


128     THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

by  her  attitude,  consoles  him  for  the  insults  and 
attack  of  the  beggar  Iros,  without  knowing  him 
(XVIII).  Before  the  suitors,  Athene,  first  in 
the  form  of  a  darting  swallow,  then  with  her 
shield,  encourages  and  protects  him  (XXII). 

If  the  first  and  second  books  of  each  series 
balance  one  another,  the  third  and  fourth  are  not 
less  symmetrical:  the  latter  accentuates,  at  every 
stroke,  the  idea  of  the  former.  Here  is  Telemachus 
at  Pylos  (III),  then  at  Sparta  (IV).  Here  is 
Ulysses  entering  the  palace  of  the  Pheacians 
(VII),  then  feted  by  them  (VIII).  Here  are  the 
Dead  evoked  (XI),  and  the  Monsters  appear 
(XII).  Here  is  the  return  of  Telemachus  (XV), 
then  the  discovery  of  his  father,  object  of  his 
search,  in  Ithaca  (XVI).  Here  is  the  project  of 
testing  the  suitors  by  means  of  the  bow  (XIX), 
then  the  prudent  organizing  of  the  massacre 
(XX).  Here,  finally,  is  Ulysses  master  of  his 
home  (XXIII)  and  of  his  kindgom  (XXIV). 

A  like  method  observed  in  the  two  works 
shows  that  they  come  from  the  same  hand,  — 
if  it  were  not  sufficiently  proved  by  both  being 
apologies  for  vengeance,  and  by  both  tending  to 
point  the  same  moral;  the  one  negatively,  by 
blaming  the  INEVITABLE  DISCORD  OF  PLURALI- 
TIES; the  other  positively,  exalting  THE  CONSTANCY 
AND  THE  VICTORY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  TYPE;  the 
one  chanting  an  emotion,  the  other  a  man! 


EPIC  AND  TRAGEDY  129 

In  each  of  these  poems  the  truly  extraordinary 
symmetry  between  the  parts  which  compose  it 
demonstrates  that  the  hypotheses  of  interpola- 
tions and  of  lacunae  of  any  importance  must  be 
rejected.  I  defy  any  one  to  cite  a  single  work, 
as  strictly  planned  and  calculated  in  all  details 
as  are  these,  which  COULD  have  been  executed 
by  several  artists  of  different  epochs,  or  even  by 
two  collaborators,  however  closely  united. 
Whence,  then,  can  have  sprung  the  strange  and 
profoundly  anti-artistic  conception  of  a  plurality 
of  authors  for  these  compositions  marked  by  so 
leonine  a  hand?  The  answer  is  simple:  from 
the  admirable  independence  which  each  member 
of  these  masterpieces  retains.  Far  from  losing 
its  own  individuality  in  the  mass  of  narrative,  a 
single  canto  —  a  24th  part  of  a  poem,  a  48th 
part  of  the  double  work  —  can  be  considered 
separately  and  alone,  and  can  satisfy.  A  single 
Homer  conceived  his  epic  in  this  wise,  and  so 
executed  it.  And  herein  lies  the  secret  of  its 
eternal  youth. 

II  --LAW  OF  GENERATION  BY  WHICH 
TRAGEDY  SPRINGS  FROM  EPIC 

The  second  of  these  poems  contains,  in  advance, 
the  technique  of  Tragedy. 

Take  away  the  third  part  of  the  ODYSSEY 
(IX-XII:  the  Narratives  of  Ulysses)  and  we 


130  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

have  before  us  the  five  visible  portions  of  tragedy, 
which  engendered  our  traditional  five  acts,  — 
a  division  which  we  find  even  among  the  Chinese. 
As  for  the  Narratives  of  Ulysses,  they  form  the 
invisible  side,  which  is  in  all  tragedy  —  invisible 
for  the  very  simple  reason  that  it  serves  as  a  base ; 
the  base  upon  which  a  cube  rests  is  not  apparent 
to  the  eye.  It  is  to  this  part,  formed  of  events 
anterior  to  the  beginning  of  the  action,  that  the 
exposition  of  every  first  act  makes  allusion. 
From  it  emanates  the  mystery  which  permeates 
the  work.  From  it  springs  the  agnition  in  which, 
finally,  it  becomes  visible  at  the  moment  of  the 
catastrophe. 

Thus,  in  the  four  dramas  which  in  succession 
form  the  ILIAD,  the  second  canto  of  each  is  the 
mystery  and  the  explanation,  which  must  be 
veiled  and  diffused  in  a  scenic  adaptation. 

All  well-constructed  epics  rest  upon  multiples 
of  6:  the  ILIAD  has  24  cantos,  the  ODYSSEY  24, 

TELEMAQUB  24,  LES  MARTYRS  24,  the  ^ENEID  12, 
the  THEBAID  12,  PARADISE  LOST  12,  REYNARD 
THE  Fox  12,  ARAUCANA  36,  LE  LUTRIN  6.  Of 
what  weight,  in  view  of  this,  is  the  HENRIADE? 
Neither  the  LUSIAD  (10  cantos)  nor  DER  MESSIAS 
(20  cantos)  have  the  qualities  of  the  works  just 
cited.  If  the  PHARSALIA  has  but  10  cantos  and 
the  ARGONAUTICA  but  8,  it  is  because  these  two 
poems  are  incomplete.  I  find  no  valid  exception 


EPIC  AND  TRAGEDY  131 

but  JERUSALEM  DELIVERED  (20  cantos),  and  we 
can  hardly  refrain  from  criticizing  its  narrowness 
of  horizon,  when  we  consider  the  oceanic  immen- 
sity of  the  Crusades.* 

The  Bible  contains  72  books.  And  all  the 
Idyls  come  back  to  12  invariable  themes. 

Ill  —  THE  THREE  SYSTEMS  OF  POETRY 

There  are  three  great  systems  of  poetry: 

Parallelism, 

Quantitative  poetry  of  long  and  short  syllables, 

Our  poetry  of  accent. 

These  may  be  subdivided:  the  metrical  poetry 
of  the  ancients,  the  tonic  poetry  of  the  Germans, 
Spanish  assonance,  rhyme,  etc.  They  may  be 
combined:  thus  liturgic  poetry  has  synthesized 
all  the  systems. 

Parallelism  (Chinese,  Semitic)  remains  close 
to  logic  and  rhetoric.  Thence  comes  its  privilege 
of  "translatability"  into  all  idioms.  Parallelism 
is  to  poetry,  in  a  manner,  what  ideography  is  to 
writing.  It  opposes  —  whether  by  SYMMETRICAL 
comparison,  by  ANTITHESIS  or  by  a  more  vague 
and  subtile  analogy  which  is  called  SYNTHETIC  — 
two  propositions. 

*I  have  not  cited  the  Asiatic  poems,  nor  those  of  our  Middle  Ages, 
which  are  not  cut  up  into  detached  cantos. 


132      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Examples : 

1st,  of  SYMMETRIC  parallelism : 

"The  kings  of  Tarshish  and  of  the  isles  shall 

bring  presents : 

The  kings  of  Sheba  and  of  Seba  shall  offer 

gifts." 

(Psalm  LXXII) 

2nd,  of  ANTITHETIC  parallelism: 

"Faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend: 
Deceitful  are  the  kisses  of  an  enemy." 

(Prov.  XXVII) 

3rd,  of  SYNTHETIC  parallelism: 
"The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect, 

Converting  the  soul : 
The  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure, 

Making  wise  the  simple: 
The  statutes  of  the  Lord  are  right, 
Rejoicing  the  heart." 

(Psalm  XIX) 

Now  grammar  teaches  us  that  a  proposition  is 
reduced,  in  the  last  analysis,  to  three  elements: 
subject,  verb  and  predicate.  This  then  makes, 
in  a  Parallel,  6  elements  (2  subjects,  2  verbs, 
2  predicates)  arranged  face  to  face  in  two  trinities. 

The  verb,  —  central  element  of  each  trinity,  — 
expresses  the  idea  of  RAPPORT,  —  like  the  hori- 
zontal bar  in  each  of  the  two  terms  of  an  algebraic 
equation : 


EPIC  AND  TRAGEDY  133 

1st  term:  2nd  term: 

For  his  anger  A      C  His  kindness 

endures  — = —  endures 

for  the  twinkling  B      D  for  a  lifetime, 

of  an  eye : 

Parallelism,  we  hasten  to  add,  has  —  like  its 
survival  among  us,  our  proverbs  —  recourse  to 
assonance  or  rhyme  in  order  to  accentuate  still 
further  the  connecting  of  two  ideas  hitherto 
separated  or  insufficiently  compared. 

What  is  assonance  and  what  is  rhyme,  upon 
which  our  versifications  are  based?  — 

"Quel  negre  fou 

Nous  a  forge  ce  bijou  d'un  sou" .      .      .  ? 
(Verlaine:  ART  POETIQUE.) 

They  are  cousins  and  kindred  of  the  pun. 

And  what  is  the  pun  but  a  play  on  words? 

It  is  a  language  laughing  at  its  own  infirmities. 

We  can  imagine  an  ideal  language  in  which, 
on  the  contrary,  the  words  resemble  each  other 
exactly  in  the  proportion  in  which  the  ideas  they 
express  resemble  each  other.  May  such  a  mar- 
vellous language  have  once  existed,  in  accordance 
with  the  ideal  of  a  primitive  human  superiority, 
and  must  ambiguity,  double-meaning  and  puns 
be  traced  to  Babel?  According  to  this  amusing 
hypothesis,  assonance,  alliteration  and  rhyme 


134  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

would  historically  precede,  instead  of  following 
parallelism  in  reactionary  fashion,  and  a  Verhaeren, 
bringing  us  back  to  the  latter,  would  be  closing  a 
vast  cycle. 

In  any  case,  whether  we  make  use  of  the 
QUATRAIN  of  short  lines  constructed  on  two 
rhymes,  —  complementary,  since,  in  the  classics, 
one  is  masculine  and  the  other  feminine,  — 

"Un  vieux  ch£ne  etait  la:  sa  tige 
"Eut  orn6  le  seuil  d'un  palais. 
"'Le  cur£  de  Meudon?'  lui  dis-je; 
"L'arbre  me  dit:  'C'est  Rabelais.'  " 

(Hugo:  CHANSON  DBS  RUES  ET  DES  BOIS.) 

or  whether,  from  reminiscence  of  the  ancients, 
but  in  verse  more  labored  and  artificial  than 
theirs,  we  concentrate  on  the  DISTICH  of  four 
hemistichs,  — 

"Le  crepuscule  vint — et  je  tournai  la  tete, 
"Mon  ivresse  6tait  morte — avec  la  tache 
faite." 

(H.  de  Regnier:  JEUX  RUSTIQUES  ET  DIVINS.) 
we  come  back,  after  all,  like  the  parallelists,  to 
symmetric  dualities. 

Our  versifiers  have  long  noted  in  each  of  these 
dualities  an  average  of  6  points  of  sonority,  or 
tonic  accents,  distributed  in  two  groups  of  3, 


EPIC  AND  TRAGEDY  135 

between  the  two  halves  of  the  verse.  Four  of 
these  accents,  in  the  following  example,  are 
stronger,  because  they  coincide  with  the  final 
syllables,  while  the  two  others  proceed  simply 
from  the  individual  rhythm  of  the  verse;  from  the 
sense  of  the  phrase. 

12  3  456 

Oui,  je  viens  dans  son  temple  —  adorer  1'Eternel ; 

123  4  56 

Je  viens  selon  1'usage  —  antique  et  solennel,  etc. 

Now,  if  these  dualities  —  the  distich  and  the 
quatrain  —  are  the  rudiment  of  our  stanzas,  the 
parallelist  also  outlines  his  in  a  quatrain.  So, 
either  in  parallelism  or  in  our  own  versification, 
we  invariably  arrive  at  the  following  scheme: 

(A         /          B=C         /         D)  =  (E         /         F=G         /         H) 

Sub.,  verb,  pred.     Sub.,  verb,  pred.  Sub.,  verb,  pred.    Sub.,  verb,  pred. 

of  the  of  the  of  the  of  the 

1st  proposition       2nd  proposition  1st  proposition      2nd  proposition 

of  the  of  the 

1st  parallel  2nd  parallel 

1st     2nd    3rd        1st    2nd     3rd  1st    2nd     3rd       1st     2nd     3rd 

points  of  accent      points  of  accent  points  of  accent     points  of  accent 

of  1st  hemistich      of  2nd  hemistich  of  1st  hemistich     of  2nd  hemistich 

in  the  in  the 

1st  distich  2nd  distich 

or  •        or 

1st  line  2nd  line  3rd  line  4th  line 

of  quatrain.  of  quatrain. 

"But,"  it  may  be  objected,  "y°ur  groups  of 
3  accents  represent,  in  reality,  each  3  pairs  and 
not  3  unities.  In  each  one,  beside  the  point  of 
accent  on  which  you  fix  our  attention,  — beside 
the  THESIS  of  the  Greeks,  there  is  the  weaker  part, 
or  ARSIS.  This,  with  us,  is  next  the  long  syllables 


136  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

in  the  spondee,  or  the  BREVES  in  the  dactyl  and 
the  anapest.  In  German  verse,  beside  the  tonic 
syllables  are  other  syllables.  Again,  in  some 
French  poetry,  beside  the  syllables  most  accented, 
and  others  of  equal  strength,  are  the  syllables 
sacrificed  by  our  method  of  scanning.  And,  in 
uneven  rhythms,  —  in  which  best  survives  among 
us  the  Aryan  prosody,  —  is  it  not  the  pause  in 
expectation  of  one  of  these  syllables  (this  time 
not  merely  diminished  but  suppressed)  which 
gives  that  unforeseen  effect,  musical  and  pathetic, 
that  sense  of  being  "in  the  air"  so  beloved  by 
our  Verlaine?  In  reality  we  arrive,  as  the  ancients 
did  before  us,  at  a  total  of  a  dozen  demi-metres, 
alternative  aspirations  and  respirations,  by  turns 
strong  and  weak." 

Yes. 

And  so  it  is  analogically  that  each  of  the 
Homeric  poems  is  divided  into  twelve  double- 
cantos,  the  ^NEID  into  twelve  cantos,  our  own 
poetry  into  twelve  fixed  forms:  six  with  refrain 
(RONDEAUX,  simple  and  double,  CLOSE,  BALLADE, 
CHANT  ROYAL  and  TRIOLET)  and  six  with  com- 
binations of  rhymes  (LAI,  VIRELAI,  SONNET, 
PANTOUM,  VILLANELLE  and  SEXTINE),  —  as  the 
year  is  divided  into  twelve  months!  since  it  is,  in 
short,  twelve  lines  or  ARETES  which  bound  the 
Cube  formed,  as  I  have  shown,  by  the  six  faces 
from  which  our  energy  moves  across  the  three 
dimensions  of  space. 


The  Twelve  Gods  of  All  Nations 

CHAPTER  IX 

I  —  A  NEW  EXPLANATION  OF  THE 
ORIGIN  OF  GODS 

These  twelve  ARfiTES  have  a  significant  aspect 
worthy  the  attention  of  the  analogist  (I  dare  not 
say  of  the  philosopher,  since  this  term  today 
passes  as  the  exclusive  property  of  solemn  persons 
who  will  shrug  their  shoulders  on  hearing  me 
invoke  Him  who  nevertheless  invented  their 
fine  name  of  "philosophers").  In  the  eyes  of 
the  poet,  then, —  the  greatest  votary  of  analogy, 
although  by  pure  instinct,  —  in  the  eyes  of  the 
dreamer,  does  not  each  of  these  ARfiTES  mark 
the  limit  of  the  violent  expansion  of  one  of  the 
six  efforts  of  which  we  are  capable?  Now  this 
limit  is  imposed  precisely  by  the  expansion  of 
one  of  the  four  adjoining  efforts,  to  the  first 
obstacle  which  causes  it  to  deviate  and  brings  it 
back  obliquely  to  us.  In  reciprocally  cutting 
each  other  off  they  form  an  ARfiTE;  they  become 
to  one  another  the  "thou  shalt  not,"  the  impre- 
scriptable  law. 

There  were,  in  the  supreme  Greco-Latin  Olym- 
pus, but  12  great  gods:  Vesta,  Juno,  Neptune, 
Minerva,  Venus,  Apollo,  Mercury,  Jupiter,  Ceres, 


138      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Vulcan,  Mars  and  Diana,  to  enumerate  them  in 
the  order  consecrated  by  their  worship.  And  it 
was  not  only  thus  in  the  classic  pantheon,  but  in 
India,  where  the  12  great  gods  bear  the  corre- 
sponding names  of  Maia,  Indrani,  Vishnu,  Sara- 
couati,  Lakchmi,  Indra,  Boudha,  Brahma,  Gon- 
dopi,  Ganeja,  Siva  and  Bhavani,  and  preside 
respectively  OVER  THE  SAME  MONTHS  OF  THE 
YEAR;  in  Egypt,  where  they  bear  the  names  of 
Athor,  Neith,  Remfo,  Bouto,  Surot,  Pi-re,  Piromi, 
Pi-Zeous,  T'Armouth,  Fre,  Ertosi,  and  Poubasti; 
in  the  Scandinavian  Valhalla,  where  the  Aesir 
are  called  Vora,  Frigga,  Niorder,  Snorra,  Freya, 
Balder,  Loke,  Thor,  Freir,  Heimdall,  Oulloir  and 
Gefiona;  among  the  Japanese,  who  count  12  gods 
and  demi-gods;  among  the  ancient  Persians,  who 
divided  the  sombre  and  the  bright  months 
between  the  six  Amschasfands  and  the  six  Devs, 
opposed  face  to  face;  in  far-away  Peru,  in  ancient 
Etruria,  even  in  Tahiti,  where  today  they  still 
invoke  Papiri,  Ovnounou,  Paroromoua,  Paromori, 
Mouria,  Heacha,  Taoa,  Hourororera,  Houriama 
Teaire,  Tetai,  Ouehao,  Ouea;  and  in  the  various 
Polynesian  isles,  —  in  a  word,  among  all  poly- 
theistic peoples. 

Why? 

Must  we  here  see,  with  Dupuis,  who  enumer- 
ates the  12  Etruscan  cantons,  the  12  strategi,  the 
12  lictors,  the  12  Arval  Brethren,  the  12  altars  of 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  139 

Janus,  the  12  columns  of  the  temple  of  Heliopolis, 
the  12  palaces  of  the  Labyrinth,  the  12  gates  of 
the  Dodocapylon,  those  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
in  the  APOCALYPSE,  the  12  angels  who  guard 
them,  the  12  foundations  of  the  wall,  according 
to  St.  John  (Ap.  XXI);  the  12  branches  of  the 
candlestick,  the  12  stones  in  the  breastplate  of 
the  Jewish  high  priest  (and,  we  might  add,  in  the 
MIEN  or  head-dress  of  the  Emperors  of  China); 
the  12  fountains  of  the  desert,  the  12  sacred 
cushions,  the  12  stars  of  the  dream  of  Joseph,  the 
12  TCHEOU  or  provinces  of  the  Chinese  Empire, 
etc.,  — must  we  herein  see,  as  he  did,  an  eternal 
and  monotonous  commemoration  of  the  signs  of 
the  zodiac?  Ingenuous  fancy  of  an  astronomer! 
Humanity  does  not  pass  through  life  with  its 
eyes  glued  to  the  nocturnal  firmament,  counting 
and  annotating  the  constellations.  And,  when 
such  an  allegory  has  been  mingled  with  the 
"signs"  consecrated  to  these  constellations,  the 
Divine  Figures  have  remained  deprived  of  per- 
sonality, whereas,  in  the  imagination  of  races, 
nothing  i$  more  vivid  than  these  Twelve  Gods  who 
everywhere  loom  sublime,  smiling  and  awesome. 
Astarte,  the  Hindu  Lakchmi,  Venus  of  our 
Latin  Occident,  Aphrodite,  Slavic  Lada,  Persian 
Enyo,  Mexican  Ichcouina,  Celtic  Roth,  Finnish 
Sakamieli,  Salammbo  of  Babylon,  Scandinavian 
Siona,  Saxon  Magada,  again  Freia,  Arabian 


140  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Alzoarah,  —  is  it  not,  everywhere,  the  same  ideal 
allurement  which  burns  in  our  own  hearts,  and 
to  which,  even  today,  we  make  ceaseless  allusion? 

Does  not  the  sword  of  war  everywhere  sparkle 
in  the  hand  of  him  whose  name  only  changes: 
Mongol  Daitching,  Gaulish  Hesus,  Russian  Lede, 
Ares,  Mars,  Saxon  Pepenouth,  Quirinus,  Poly- 
nesian Rimarou,  Ertosi  the  protector  of  Sesostris, 
Assyrian  Nergal,  Phoenician  Baal-Thurz,  Ares- 
kovi  of  the  Hurons,  Vitzlibochtli  of  Mexico, 
Hindu  Skanda,  Alemane  of  the  Rhine,  three- 
headed  Japanese  Nequirou-Denichi-Maristin? 

Do  not  the  thunders  sound,  in  all  climes, 
from  the  judicial  throne  of  the  same  majestic 
Jupiter,  Zeus,  Indra,  Celtic  Taran,  Arab  Moch- 
tara,  Lamppic  Oragalls,  Esthonian  Perkoun,  Bur- 
man,  Sigeann,  Egyptian  Pi-Zeous,  Slavonic 
Peroun,  Wotan,  Ethiopian  Assabine,  Cartha- 
ginian Baal-Samen? 

And  do  we  not  find  everywhere  creeping  in, 
artful  and  identical,  Mercury,  Hermes,  Nebo, 
Piromi  from  the  Nile,  Quetzalcoatl  from  Mexico, 
Ogma  of  the  Gauls,  Eghouere  the  Parsee  Dev, 
Etruscan  Xudan,  Germanic  Jedod?  From  all 
lands  resounds  the  hammer  of  the  Irish  Danan, 
who  is  Vulcan,  who  is  Hephaestos,  who  is  Sidek, 
who  is  Mimir,  who  is  Ilmarenen  in  Finland, 
Luno  in  Norway,  who  is  Siorlamh,  who  is  Diamich, 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  141 

who  is  Vicouakarma.  Just  as  everywhere  flour, 
ishes  Ceres,  Rhea-Demeter,  Fauna,  Gondopi- 
Kouong-in  pou-tsa  in  China,  T'Armouth  in  Egypt, 
Schaka,  Ops,  full-breasted  Copia,  —  Dame  Nature 
of  our  modern  sentimentalists! 

In  the  heavens,  Grann  the  Alsatian  Apollo, 
Braga  the  Scandinavian,  Abelios  the  Cretan,  the 
lyric  Phoibos,  Mahanna  of  the  Tahitians  succeed, 
the  same  under  a  myriad  names,  to  the  identical 
Diana,  Artemis,  Pooh,  pale  beneath  her  black 
locks,  or  Selene,  weaving  her  threads  of  silver 
over  the  nocturnal  sea,  —  the  sea,  from  whose 
sinister  depths  rises  the  rebellious  and  greedy 
Poseidon,  Ahriman,  Satan,  Jemma,  Despot  of  the 
Japanese  hells,  Tuiston,  the  Gallo-German  Pluto, 
Gouleho  of  the  Friendly  Islands,  Houe-Koub  of 
the  Araucanians,  Toia  scorching  his  terrified 
adorers  in  Florida,  the  Hindu  Kansa,  Czernobog 
the  dark  god  of  the  Varegues,  Kronos,  Scariafing 
of  Formosa,  the  destroyer  Akerouniamen  of  the 
ancient  Umbrians,  Gwaiotta  of  the  Gouanches 
in  Teneriffe,  the  Siamese  Tevetat,  envious  rival  of 
his  brother  the  Buddha;  Agnian,  seated  upon 
Brazilian  tombs,  Derevech  of  the  Parsees,  Maboia 
and  Bouii  in  whom  Caribs  and  Toungouses  like- 
wise have  recognized  the  Devil;  Sova  in  Guinea, 
Larthisca  of  the  Moluccas,  the  vermiform  Angat 
of  Madagascar,  Koupai  the  Peruvian,  Atre  the 
Angle-Saxon,  Asuman,  Nikken  of  the  Danish 


142  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

isles,  Usous  in  struggles  with  the  hardy  Phoeni- 
cian vessels,  Perdoit  of  the  Prussian  coast,  Magus- 
can  of  the  Carthaginians,  Tsoui-Kouan  foaming 
against  Chinese  prows,  lebicon  who  defies  the 
Japanese,  Orre-orre  before  whom  the  Tahitian 
trembles  in  his  log  canoe,  Mitg  of  Kamschatka, 
Teuaratai  who  separates  the  Polynesian  isles. 

And  at  the  hearth  presides  the  pious  Vesta, 
Anouke,  Dehemeh,  Metis,  Voltumna  standing 
amid  the  Etruscan  councils,  Conso  in  the  Roman 
senate,  Egeria  the  eternal  guardian  fairy,  to 
whom  stands  in  eternal  antithesis  the  jealous 
Hera,  Juno,  Nemesis,  the  solar  Malina  of  Green- 
land. 

We  have  considered  above  these  Twelve  Figures 
concentrated  in  six  or  seven  types.  One  very 
striking  point  in  these  half-dozen  visages  is  their 
PLETHORIC  character.  None  of  us  can  have  failed 
to  remark  that  there  is  a  superabundance,  an 
excess  of  expression  in  the  gods  as  the  Renaissance 
has  painted  them.  In  this  respect  the  Jupiter 
of  Rubens,  of  Cornelius  Agrippa  or  of  Marlowe 
goes  far  beyond  that  of  Phidias  or  of  Homer; 
he  has  too  much  of  flesh  and  blood,  of  muscle, 
of  self-consciousness.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
the  too  sturdy  Venus  of  the  moderns,  who  has 
come  to  be  confused  with  the  orgiac  Demeter. 
Mars  becomes  Herculean,  and  the  others  fare 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  143 

likewise.  Each  of  them,  in  fact,  has  within  him 
the  equivalent  of  a  second  god.  And  each  of 
them,  as  we  have  observed,  shows  but  the  wild 
and  unrestrained  flight  of  our  energy  in  one  of 
the  six  directions  which  space  opens  to  it. 

When  our  Twelve  Figures  definitely  outlined 
themselves;  when,  driven  by  the  spirit  of  analogy 
so  powerful  of  old,  they  were  imposed  upon  all 
things,  successively  established  over  all,  —  over 
the  provinces  of  the  fatherland  and  over  the 
countries  of  the  earth;  over  the  social  classes  and 
the  successive  generations  of  the  past;  over  the 
virtues  and  the  laws;  over  public  powers  and  the 
organs  of  our  bodies ;  over  our  natural  actions  and 
our  ceremonies ;  over  familiar  and  sacred  objects,  — 
what  more  natural  than  that  those  men  who 
sought  also  in  the  heavens  for  these  types  should 
likewise  perceive  them  at  the  twelve  almost 
equidistant  points  which  divide  the  year? 

They  placed  the  phlegmatics,  such  as  Vesta, 
the  vindictive  Juno  and  the  greedy  Neptune  in 
the  months  of  winter;  the  youthful  and  smiling 
Venus,  Minerva  and  Apollo  in  the  months  of 
spring;  Mercury,  Jupiter  and  Ceres  in  the  summer 
affected  by  the  sanguines,  and,  for  their  grim 
sincerity,  Vulcan,  Mars  and  Diana  in  the  sombre 
autumn.  Here,  then,  in  my  opinion,  is  all  we 
need  retain  of  the  theory  of  Dupuis. 


144  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

To  this  astronomical  localization,  nevertheless, 
I  find  it  legitimate  to  subordinate  certain  of  the 
dozens  grouped  by  him  as  examples,  —  but  cer- 
tain ones  only,  and  on  condition,  I  repeat,  that 
the  astronomic  localization  be  itself  subordinated 
to  the  conception  of  a  psychology  infinitely  more 
human  and  more  profound.  The  origin  of  this 
conception  is  not  exterior  to  man;  it  proceeds 
from  our  mental  constitution  itself,  and  is  but 
ITS  IMPRESSION  IN  BELIEF. 

In  a  word,  there  never  have  been,  in  religion, 
more  than  twelve  great  Gods  clearly  defined,  for 
the  very  simple  reason  that  no  more  could  be 
created. 

For  the  rest,  we  may  remark:  If,  in  face  of 
the  astronomic  system  of  Dupuis,  other  mytholo- 
gists  have  been  easily  able  to  range  the  ETYMO- 
LOGICAL system,  —  in  which  every  myth  results 
from  an  EQUIVOQUE,  a  homonymy,  a  metaphor 
interpreted  literally,  an  imperfection  in  the  lan- 
guage, or  finally  from  a  sort  of  pun  or  play  on 
words,  —  if  they  have  been  able  to  win  over 
to  that  theory  the  majority  of  old  partisans  of 
the  former,  they  have  nevertheless  not  destroyed 
it.  For  it  still  remains  for  them  to  explain  in  a 
satisfactory  manner  the  numerical  coincidences 
so  surprising  and  so  numerous..  .  .  More- 
over, their  new  thesis,  —  a  trifle  ignoble,  it  must 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  146 

be  admitted,  —  was  quite  as  quickly  found  weari- 
some and  unsatisfying,  and  we  have  seen,  in 
default  of  better  solutions,  many  weak  and  at 
the  same  time  curious  minds  led  astray  in  the 
morass  of  occultism,  while  intellects  more  robust^ 
but  repelled  by  the  etymological  doctrine,  con- 
tent themselves  regretfully  with  the  vague  so- 
called  PSYCHOLOGICAL  doctrine.  This  affirms  that 
myths  are  a  natural  creation  of  the  human  mind, 
and  that  the  human  mind  ought  naturally  to 
create  them,  —  but  without  attempting  to  demon- 
strate either  how  or  why! 

To  those  awakened  minds  which  have  never 
been  satisfied  with  the  somewhat  feminine 
"because  .  .  ."of  this  theory,  the  present 
analysis  has  furnished  already  an  explanation  of 
the  analogies,  twelve  by  twelve,  so  patiently 
ranged  by  Dupuis,  and  has  not  feared  to  further 
enrich  them.  It  can  furnish,  in  addition,  the 
explanation  of  the  etymological  resemblances: 
they  are  not  less  interesting,  although  less  numer- 
ous, it  must  be  admitted,  and  especially  less 
striking.  It  is  not  impossible  to  reduce  the 
morphology  of  languages  to  a  limited  number  of 
generative  laws.  These  laws  bear  especially  upon 
the  essential  and  primitive  words,  notably  on 
those  which  are  connected  with  the  fundamental 
idea  of  BEING:  we  know  the  unique  importance 
of  this  verb  among  all  others,  in  all  languages. 


146  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Now  the  idea  of  Being  PAR  EXCELLENCE  is  easily 
identified  with  that  of  "Supreme"  or  "Divine" 
Beings. 

We  have  just  seen  that,  according  to  the  ety- 
mological system,  the  mythic  particularities  which 
were  attached  to  these  various  divine  types 
resulted  precisely  in  homonymies  or  involuntary 
"puns,"  — in  a  lexical  CONFUSION.  Believers  will 
be  pleased  to  remark  that  this  does  not  contradict 
the  sacred  legend.  Without  doubt,  the  ety- 
mologic system  will  readily  date  this  confusion 
from  the  very  origin  of  the  human  being.  But 
it  must  be  recognized  that  scientifically  it  is  not 
permissible  to  go  back  to  so  remote  an  epoch. 
And  we  may  recall  that  legend  ascribes  to  the 
same  historic  moment  the  beginning  of  polythe- 
isms and  the  difference  of  languages,  which  would 
thus  have  determined,  and  not  followed,  the 
dispersion  of  men,  thenceforward  incapable  of 
understanding  one  another. 

I  am  here  advancing,  I  need  hardly  say,  only  a 
hypothesis,  barely  sketched,  but  amusing.  May 
I  be  permitted  another  remark?  To  accept  the 
etymological  system,  according  to  which  mythol- 
ogy is  but  a  foolish  "malady  of  language,"  is  to 
accept  the  implicit  conclusion  that  since  the 
earliest  ages  (since  the  beginning,  say  the  believers ; 
in  any  case,  for  a  longer  time  than  any  other 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  147 

race)  the  one  Chosen  People  has,  despite  the 
idioms  so  diverse  and  so  pagan  which  it  has 
successively  adopted,  maintained  itself  unscathed 
by  this  linguistic  malady,  and  consequently  by 
the  mental  malady  which  it  engenders. 

Since  this  people  created,  or,  according  to  its 
own  humble  avowal,  providentially  received  and 
simply  conserved  this  triumphal  idea  of  the 
Unity  of  Being,  —  how  reconcile  the  assertions  of 
the  modern  critic?  Is  language,  then,  not  the 
cause  nor  mythology  the  effect?  Or  is  this  con- 
ception of  the  One  Being  more  ancient  among 
this  people  than  is  admitted?  And  is  this  primi- 
tive language  of  the  Hebrews  superior  to  others, 
since  it  alone  remained  free  from  the  great 
"malady"  which  contaminated  them  all  until 
the  idea  of  Being  was  forced  into  a  delirious 
flowering? 

Of  this  flowering,  nevertheless  so  supremely 
beautiful,  let  us  study  the  morphology  in  the  light 
of  our  idea,  which  finally  puts  into  accord  the 
three  mythologic  systems. 

II— HEROES,  EPONYMS,  TRIBES,  FEDERA- 
TIONS, PATRIARCHS,  PEERS,  DISCIPLES, 
APOSTLES,  PARTS  OF  THE  MASS,  ARTICLES 
OF  THE  CREED,  STONES,  TOTEMS,  IDOLA- 
TRIES, HERESIES,  SYSTEMS,  SCHISMS  AND 
NATIONALITIES. 


148  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Man,  as  observed  at  the  beginning  of  this  book, 
is  above  all  else  DOUBLE.  And  this  is  very  natural, 
if  we  reflect  that  he  is  the  product  of  two  beings. 

He  is,  then,  above  all,  a  contradiction,  a  dialogue, 
a  duel.  His  pretended  individuality,  the  absolute 
Self  of  the  philosophers,  remains  as  chimerical,  as 
inconsistent  as  the  mathematical  point ;  it  has  no 
more  real  existence  than  the  point;  it  appears 
simply  when  two  lines,  two  hereditary  impulses, 
coincide.  These  lines  at  least  present  a  conti- 
nuity, a  durable  will.  Now,  in  pursuing  the  same 
geometric  comparison,  is  not  a  line  found  at  the 
meeting  of  two  surfaces, — is  it  not  an  ARETE? 
Thus  symbolically  the  human  figure  presents 
itself  before  us.  ... 

The  twelve  Divine  Figures  reveal  themselves 
as  the  very  incarnations  of  the  TWELVE  CON- 
TRADICTIONS produced  bwtween  the  six  directions 
of  energy.  Thus  they  correspond  to  man:  the 
twelve  human-types,  the  twelve  eternal  ancestors. 
He  may  meet  them,  recognize  them,  evoke  them 
on  all  his  paths.  Not  in  the  heavens  alone,  but 
in  the  past  he  finds  them,  at  first  in  the  legendary 
period  of  eponyms,  then  in  authentic  history, 
whose  heroes,  simplified  in  memory,  he  has  obsti- 
nately identified  with  one  of  these  twelve  types. 
Here,  then,  is  the  explanation  of  the  fourth  and 
last  mythologic  system,  EUHEMERISM. 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  149 

Yes,  the  heroes  of  humanity  pass,  after  death, 
to  the  state  of  divinities.  But  the  divine  roles 
which  are  attributed  to  them  were  ready  in 
advance;  the  roles  existed  before  the  actors,  for 
these  were  not  the  authors;  they  did  naught  but 
enter  and  shape  themselves,  as  they  could  well 
do,  to  a  mould  already  constructed.  The  type  of 
Jupiter  existed  before  the  most  ancient  of  mortal 
Jupiters,  and  from  each  of  them  has  been  accepted 
only  what  was  appropriate  to  the  type,  only  what 
in  each  was  Jupiterian. 

Thus  may  be  explained  the  multiplicity  of 
heroes  blended  in  a  single  legend,  with  neverthe- 
less an  admirable  unity  of  poetic  tone  (Hercules, 
Buddha,  etc.).  Do  we  not,  moreover,  assist  in 
this  work?  —  are  not  words  and  sayings  thus 
transferred  from  one  celebrated  man  to  another? 
We  may  verify  this  by  Voltaire,  for  example, 
who  inherited,  for  the  most  part,  from  English 
authors  his  biting  sallies  of  wit,  to  which  have 
been  added  others,  imagined  since  his  death. 
Napoleon,  despite  his  square  jaw  and  his  ple- 
beianism,  must  needs  be  a  Caesar  of  triangular 
and  aquiline  visage;  Caesar  in  turn  an  Alexander, 
Alexander  a  Sesostris,  a  Rama. 

A  gocl,  an  individual-type,  is  then  an  ARETE,  a 
dialogue,  one  of  those  primitive  combinations  such 
as  we  encounter  at  our  first  step  in  descending  to 


150     THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

the  interior  of  the  human  soul.  And  this  prob- 
ably explains  why,  of  the  12  inevitable  gods, 
there  are  so  often  6  masculine  and  6  feminine, 
as  if  through  need  to  express,  by  means  of  the 
one,  the  victory  of  the  paternal  (or  vital)  prin- 
ciple, and  by  means  of  the  other,  that  of  mater- 
nal principle  in  our  individual-type. 

By  the  milogynism  of  the  pre-Manichaean 
pessimists,  duality  was  expressed  by  GOOD  and 
BAD  demons,  amschasfands  and  devs  of  Iranian 
origin,  rather  than  by  sexual  antitheses.  The 
Japanese  SUPERPOSED  six  gods  and  six  demigods. 
In  the  pure  intellectuality  of  the  Judaic-Christian 
religion,  sex  is  effaced,  and  between  the  twelve 
personages  there  is  no  more  than  the  tie  of  broth- 
erhood, natural  or  spiritual:  the  twelve  tribes 
of  Israel  descend  from  twelve  patriarchs,  sons 
of  Jacob,  and  the  Christ  expressly  says  to  his 
apostles:  "Ye  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones, 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel."  (Matt. 
XIX,  28).* 

So  we  should  not  be  surprised  to  find  this  obsess- 
ing number  12  at  the  base  of  most  social  groupings ; 
it  is  a  natural  result,  psychological  and  inevitable, 

*The  idea  of  the  COUPLE  here  subsists,  nevertheless:  —  "And  he  re- 
called unto  him  the  twelve,  and  began  to  send  them  forth  by  two  and 
two;  and  gave  them  power  over  unclean  spirits."  (Mark  VI,  7). 
Together  went  the  brothers  Andrew  and  Peter,  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee 
(John  and  James),  Jude  and  James  the  less  (cousins  of  Christ),  their 
brother  Simon  with  Judas,  the  wise  Philip  and  Bartholomew,  and 
lastly  Thomas  and  Matthew. 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OP  ALL  NATIONS  151 

and  has  nothing  to  do  with  this  or  that  astro- 
nomical conception,  mystic  and  artificial.  It  is 
not  only  the  12  Jewish  tribes  and  the  12  Etruscan, 
the  12  tribes  of  the  Platonic  Republic,  the  12 
confederated  towns  of  Ionia,  those  of  JEolia, 
those  of  the  Achaian  League,  or  the  12  burghs  of 
Athens  which  may  be  cited,  but,  if  we  will,  in  the 
two  most  vigorous  republican  efforts  of  modern 
times,  the  13  cantons  which  first  formed  and 
for  many  centuries  constituted  Switzerland,  or 
the  13  original  United  States:  the  number  13 
being  to  the  number  12,  psychologically,  what 
7  is  to  6,  its  centralization  around  a  dominating 
unity. 

Likewise  it  is  sometimes  12  equal  comrades, 
and  sometimes  these  accompanied  by  their  chief 
(comparable  to  Joseph,  Jesus,  etc.)  whom  we 
find  in  all  the  orders  of  chivalry,  from  the  famous 
Peers  of  Charlemagne  (Roland,  Oliver,  Turpin, 
Estoult,  Haton,  Gerin,  Gorier,  Samson,  Girart, 
Anseis,  Berangier,  Hue,  according  to  the  generally 
accepted  list)  to  the  order  of  the  DAME  DE  L'ECU 
VERT  founded  by  Bouciquat  (he  and  his  brother 
Geoffrey,  Charles  d'Albret,  chief  of  the  order, 
Gaucourt,  Bonnebaut,  Torsay,  B6tas,  Colleville, 
Chateaumorant,  d'Aubissecourt,  Castelbayac, 
Chambrillac,  LignieYes)  in  conformity  with  the 
plan  given  by  Philippe  de  Mezidres  for  his  ideal 
Chivalry  of  the  Passion,  in  which,  about  the 


152      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

"Prince,"  were  grouped  the  Constable,  the 
Chancellor,  the  Marshal,  the  Admiral,  the  Treas- 
urer, the  Procurator,  the  Provisor,  the  Advocate, 
the  Moderator,  the  Justiciar  and  the  two  Consuls. 

Confucius  had  12  disciples. 

If  the  Jews  enumerated  4  Great  Prophets 
(Ezekiel,  Jeremiah,  Isaiah  and  Daniel),  they 
added  to  them  the  12  Lesser  Prophets  Hosea, 
Joel,  Amos,  Obadiah,  Jonah,  Micah,  Nahum, 
Habakkuk,  Zephaniah,  Haggai,  Zechariah,  Mal- 
achi,  — just  as  the  Christians  connect  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  with  the  writings  of  the  4  Evangel- 
ists. The  4  sacred  figures  (the  Angel,  the  Lion, 
the  Calf  and  the  Eagle)  which  accompany  these 
last,  accompanied  the  4  Great  Prophets.  They 
accompany  in  turn  the  4  Fathers  of  the  Greek 
Church  (Athanasius,  Basil,  Gregory  Nazianzen 
and  John  Chrysostom)  and  those  of  the  Roman 
(Jerome,  Augustine,  Gregory  the  Great,  Ambrose) 
connected  with  the  12  great  classic  Doctors  (the 
same,  plus  Thomas  Aquinas,  Bonaventure,  Fran- 
cis de  Sales,  Alphonse  de  Liguori,  Hilaire,  Anselm 
of  Canterbury,  Bernard  and  Peter  Damien). 

We  may  recall  the  care  with  which  Jevohah 
disposes  the  12  tribes  in  4  groups,  according  to 
the  4  cardinal  points.     "On  the  east 
the   camp    of   Judah     .      .      .     next   unto   him 
the  tribe  of  Issachar  then  the  tribe 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OP  ALL  NATIONS  153 

of  Zebulon  ...  on  the  south  the  camp  of 
Reuben.  .  .  and  by  him  the  tribe  of  Simeon 
.  then  the  tribe  of  Gad  ...  on 
the  west  the  camp  of  Ephraim  .  .  .  and  by 
him  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  .  .  .  then  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin  .  .  .  the  camp  of  Dan 
on  the  north  .  .  .  and  by  him  the  tribe  of 
Asher  .  .  .  then  the  tribe  of  Naphtali  . 
they  shall  go  hindmost  with  their  standards." 
(Numbers  II,  3-31.)  And  in  fact  we  see  always 
the  tribes  defile  in  the  same  order.  Need  we 
recall  here  the  12  parts  composing  the  Mass, 
which  celebrates  the  Passion,  itself  the  resume 
and  center  of  history?  These  are:  the  INTRODUC- 
TION between  the  preparation  of  the  faithful 
and  the  Confession,  the  Introit  or  ENTRANCE  OF 
THE  CHOIR  with  the  litany  and  the  "gloria,"  the 
EPISTLE  flanked  by  the  collect  and  the  psal- 
modies, the  GOSPEL  of  the  day  with  the  homily, 
the  CREDO,  the  OFFERTORY,  the  secret  prayer  and 
the  PREFACE,  the  canon  and  the  solemn  ELEVA- 
TION, the  PATER,  the  FRACTION  and  the  "agnus," 
the  COMMUNION,  lastly  the  graces,  the  BENE- 
DICTION»  and  the  gospel  of  St.  John.  I  have 
already  noted  the  senary  subdivision  of  the  Mass. 
I  have  indicated  also  how  each  of  the  6  days  or 
periods  of  Genesis  is  divided  into  two  antithetic 
creations.  And  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that 
geology  reckons,  in  the  history  of  our  globe,  12 
upheavals  before  the  appearance  of  man. 


164      THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Now  the  same  poetic  tradition  which,  in  the 
representations  of  the  Apostles,  places  on  the 
forehead  of  each  one  of  the  12  precious  stones 
(attributed  also  to  the  12  Patriarchs),  and 
figuring  likewise  in  the  Jewish  high  priest's  breast- 
plate and  in  the  foundations  of  the  columns  of 
the  New  Jerusalem  in  the  Apocalypse)  — the 
same  tradition  which  gives  to  Andrew  the  sapphire 
(of  Naphtali),  to  Peter  the  jasper  (of  Gad),  to 
James  the  chalcedony  (the  carbuncle  of  Dan),  to 
James  the  Less  the  yellow  topaz  (of  Simeon),  to 
Matthew  the  green  peridot  (of  Ephraim),  to  Jude 
the  chrysoprase  (of  Issachar),  to  gentle  John  the 
emerald  (of  Judah),  to  zealous  Simon  the  hya- 
cinth (or  ligure  of  Asher),  to  Matthias  the  purple 
amethyst  (of  Zebulon),  to  Thomas  the  aquama- 
rine or  beryl  (of  Benjamin),  to  Bartholomew  the 
carnelian  (of  Reuben),  and  to  Philip  the  orange 
sardonyx  (of  Manasseh)  —  wrote  also  at  their 
feet  the  12  articles  of  the  CREED  which  has  trans- 
formed human  thought  and  has  served  as  its 
basis  for  twenty  centuries. 

"I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  maker 
of  heaven  and  earth,"  said  the  prince  of  the 
Apostles.  "And  in  Jesus  Christ  his  only  Son  our 
Lord,"  continued  Andrew.  "Who  was  conceived 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary," 
affirmed  James.  "Suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate, 
was  crucified,  dead  and  buried,"  testified  John. 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OP  ALL  NATIONS  165 

"Descended  into  hell,"  recalled  Philip.  "The 
third  day  he  rose  from  the  dead,"  declared  the 
majestic  Bartholomew.  "He  ascended  into  heaven 
and  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father 
Almighty,"  proclaimed  Matthew.  "From  whence 
he  shall  come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead," 
prophesied  Thomas.  "I  believe  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  resumed  the  pious  James  the  Less,  cousin 
and  counterpart  of  Christ.  "The  Holy  Catholic 
Church,  the  Communion  of  Saints,"  confessed 
Jude.  "The  forgiveness  of  sins,"  added  Simon. 
"The  resurrection  of  the  body  and  life  everlasting," 
concluded  Matthias. 

Thus  tradition*  has  it  that  they  announced  in 
unforgettable  terms  the  dogmas  of  the  CREED, 
before  dispersing,  three  toward  each  cardinal 
point,  as  we  have  already  remarked:  westward, 
John  (Ephesus  and  the  Greek  world),  Peter 
(Rome),  and  James  (Spain);  southward,  James 
the  Less  (Jerusalem),  Simon  (Egypt)  and  Matthew 
(the  vast  Ethiopia  of  the  black  races);  eastward, 
Jude  (Persia),  Bartholomew  (India)  and  Thomas 
(Major  India  and  the  Extreme  Orient);  north- 
ward, Philip  (Cappadocia,  Asia  Minor),  Matthias 
(Colchis,  the  Caucasus)  and  Andrew  (Scythia  and 
the  barbarian  lands  of  the  north).  A  generation 
later  their  work  is  almost  everywhere  historically 
visible,  and  the  world  is  shaken  by  it. 

*Still  living  in  the  XV  century;  see,  among  other  works,  "LB 
TRIOMPHANT  MISTERE  DES  ACTES  DES  APOSTRES,"  by  Simon  Gresban. 


166  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Now,  since  the  Apostles  Creed  in  its  12  articles 
summarizes  the  Faith,  every  heresy  must  consist 
of  an  attack  upon  at  least  one  of  these  articles, 
and  the  heresies  may  thus  be  distributed  upon 
the  same  duodenary  plan.  Furthermore,  the 
idolatries,  according  to  sacred  teaching,  were  but 
primitive  heresies,  indurated.  "Twelve  gates  give 
access  to  Heaven,  for  the  people  of  various  reli- 
gions," said  the  Brahmins.  The  bad  habits,  the 
attitudes  of  mind  which  the  idolatries  fixed,  the 
mental  vices  on  which  they  lived,  degenerated 
sometimes  into  fetichism,  or  into  the  animalism 
whose  totems,  like  the  god-types,  are  everywhere 
found  to  be  almost  the  same  (wolf,  lion,  dog, 
bull,  etc.)  — be  it  on  many  altars,  the  Egyptian 
among  others  (whence  the  Golden  Calf  perhaps 
emigrated  with  the  Exodus),  be  it  even,  an  uncon- 
scious reminiscence,  in  the  blazon  of  heraldry  or 
among  the  gracious  allegories  of  the  fabulists,  to 
be  one  day  summed  up  so  well  in  the  dozen  types 
of  REYNARD:  Noble  the  lion,  Reynard  the  fox, 
Bruin  the  bear,  Isegrim  the  wolf,  Tybert  the 
cat,  Grimbert  the  badger,  Morhou  the  dog,  Kyward 
the  hare,  Baldwin  the  ass,  Chantecler  the  cock, 
the  Monkey  and  Beaucent  the  boar. 

Not  only  may  we  thus  lay  out  a  world-map  of 
the  heresies,  idolatries  and  aberrations  of  the 
Faith,  but  has  not  the  great  Varro,  according  to 
St.  Augustine  in  THE  CITY  OF  GOD,  classed  the 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  157 

philosophies  (those  indispensable  crowns  of  the 
antique  idolatries  as  of  the  modern  heresies),  in 
observing  their  most  characteristic  effort,  the 
conception  of  the  Sovereign  Good,  in  12  principal 
ideas,  from  which  come,  as  he  demonstrated,  the 
288  possible  systems,  and  to  which  yet  turn,  it 
must  be  admitted,  all  our  actual  theories.  The 
Intoxication  of  Life,  —  Contemplative  Repose,  — 
or  the  two  reconciled  in  Epicurean  voluptuous- 
ness, —  or  all  three  finally  augmented  by  the 
Primordial  Blessings  of  Nature  (health  of  body 
and  mind)  are  alternately  the  objects  of  inquiry, 
either  direct  or  by  means  of  virtue,  or  simply  for 
the  sake  of  the  research  itself. 

To  one  contemplating  history  from  a  detached 
point  of  view,  the  nationalities  are  revealed  as 
simple  links  of  that  more  general  and  durable 
chain,  a  religion.  This  is  clearly  visible  in  Greece. 
It  is  not  less  visible  throughout  Europe.  And 
Schism  appears  as  the  first  effort,  the  first  fissure 
of  that  separatism  provoked  by  the  weight  of 
despotism,  by  the  tyrannic  ambition  of  a  new 
power.  Its  ideal,  if  it  preserves  one,  in  religion, 
must  be  totally  different,  and  tends  consequently 
toward  one  of  the  types  which  we  have  enumerated : 
every  nationalism  (Judaism,  Anglicanism,  Galli- 
canism),  ends  in  a  rudiment  of  idolatry,  in  some 
sort  of  distortion  of  the  great  complete  —  which 
is  to  say  divine  —  human  Type.  And  it  is 


158  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

interesting  to  grasp  here  the  incompatibility  of 
Church  and  Tyranny  —  or,  according  to  our 
phrase,  Church  and  State.  It  is,  moreover,  much 
less  the  heresy  or  schism  which  captures  the 
interest  of  the  really  profound  historian  than  the 
manifestation  of  the  dogma  which  they  prepare, 
which  they  necessitate:  the  FILIOQUB  provoked 
by  the  quibbles  of  the  Byzantine  schism,  this  is 
the  "fiat  lux"  of  the  Occident;  the  Council  of 
Trent,  this  is  the  Catholic  Shakespeare. 

Ill  —  GEOGRAPHY,  HISTORY 

But,  whether  already  separated  or  not,  each 
State  remains  none  the  less  a  member  of  a  group 
of  a  dozen  equals.  In  connection  with  the 
Church  (our  "Vesta"),  can  we  not  observe  that 
from  the  moment  when  we  let  Poland  disappear, 
our  France,  its  equilibrium  changed  at  a  blow, 
saw  her  hegemony  pass  to  England,  whose  role 
was  at  the  same  time  inherited  by  the  United 
States:  of  this  dozen  of  civilized  nations,  Germany 
increased  her  strength  by  all  the  power  vainly 
wrested  by  us  from  the  house  of  Austria;  Russia, 
the  Scandinavian  world  and  the  Low  Countries 
counterbalanced  each  other;  Spain  descended  a 
little  lower,  Italy  rose  as  much  higher.  And 
perhaps  it  is  because  Turkey  is  being  effaced  that 
Japan,  an  element  likewise  foreign,  now  rises 
upon  our  horizon. 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  159 

Most  of  these  States  are  composed  of  two 
elements  primitively  hostile,  —  comparable  to  the 
two  planes  whose  intersection  forms  the  lines 
of  an  ARfiTE.  For  it  is  one  of  the  gross  errors  of 
our  time  to  identify  RACE  and  NATION.  A  nation, 
a  state,  seems,  on  the  contrary,  to  have  no  other 
mission  than  to  unite  and  bind  opposed  races, 
with  a  view  to  some  human  combination  as  yet 
unknown;  to  attempt  to  limit  a  nation  to  one 
race  would  be  as  foolish  as  to  limit  one  family  to 
incestuous  unions. 

Anglo-Saxons  and  Celts  on  the  island  of  Great 
Britain,  northern  French  and  Albigenses,  Germans 
of  north  and  south,  Austrians  and  Hungarians, 
and  for  a  long  period  Swedes  and  Norwegians,  — 
their  new  divorce  perhaps  the  precursor  of  other 
separations  in  Europe,  —  illustrate  my  assertion. 

Moreover,  each  one  among  these  couples  formed 
not  a  unity  but  a  dozen,  when  it  existed  indepen- 
dently. We  can  still  find  in  the  real  France 
(the  North)  the  types,  so  distinct  in  features, 
language  and  arts,  curiously  grouped  by  antitheses, 
of  the  Breton  and  the  Norman,  the  Fleming  and 
the  Champenois,  the  native  of  the  Ile-de-France 
and  the  heavy  Beauceron,  the  artistic  Limousin 
and  the  Auvergnat,  the  nonchalant  Touranian 
and  the  Poitevin,  the  Lorrain  and  the  Burgundian. 

In  that  one  of  the  two  dozens  which,  in  any 
country,  shows  itself  morally  superior  to  the 


160  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

other,  we  can  discover  a  national  subdivision 
into  two  half-dozens:  Scotland  and  Ireland, 
Asiatic  Greece  and  Morea,  Gascony  and  the 
Rhone  valley,  etc.  Let  us  go  further:  tradition, 
yet  living,  divides  each  one  of  these  12  regions 
among  12  little  peoples  in  turn.  And  one  could 
go  on  thus  into  every  country,  into  every  one  of 
its  natural  provinces.  Imperial  Italy,  it  is  true, 
was  divided  into  ten  provinces  only,  but  because 
its  administration  failed  to  join  to  it  the  two 
halves,  so  characteristic,  of  Cisalpine  Gaul.  These 
12  divisions  survive  in  the  ethnic  physiognomies, 
so  clearly  cut,  of  the  modern  Italians.  There 
were  12  kingdoms  in  Spain:  Old  Castile,  New 
Castile,  Leon,  Galicia,  Navarre,  Aragon,  Murcia, 
Jaen,  Cordova,  Seville,  Granada  and  Valencia. 
Germany  comprises  two  dozen  states,  Sweden 
24  LANS,  etc. 

From  another  point  of  view:  is  not  the  govern- 
ment of  a  country  formed  of  a  dozen  ministers? 
Worship  (Vesta),  Finance  (Juno),  Marine,  (Nep- 
tune), diplomatic  Foreign  Affairs  (Minerva),  the 
Interior  with  hygiene,  police  and  .  .  .  charity 
(Venus),  Public  Instruction  with  the  fine  arts 
(Apollo),  Commerce  and  Mails  (Mercury),  Justice 
(Jupiter),  Agriculture  (Ceres),  Public  Works 
(Vulcan),  War  (Mars)  and  the  Colonies  with 
their  wild  and  virgin  lands  (Diana).  And,  very 
recently,  Labor,  which  has  mysteriously  replaced 
the  first. 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  161 

Each  of  the  4  great  Races  which  cover  the 
globe,  —  the  choleric  and  ambitious  White,  the 
sanguine  and  careless  Black —  the  phlegmatic  Yel- 
low and  the  melancholy  Red  or  Brown  so  widely 
scattered,  —  throws  out  three  important  branches. 

We  have  seen  how  the  EUROPEAN  branch  of 
the  White  Race  ramifies  into  one  dozen  great 
peoples,  of  whom  the  smaller  peoples  are  the 
detached  branches.  We  may  see  the  same  in 
the  case  of  the  SEMITES,  and  of  the  NON-SEMITES 
remaining  in  Asia  (Hindus,  Persians,  etc.),  whom, 
in  my  opinion,  we  are  too  much  inclined  to  connect 
with  the  European,  for  they  are  equal  to  it  in 
numbers,  and  differ  from  it  in  mind,  physiognomy 
and  arts  not  less  than  the  Arab. 

Finally,  geographically,  if  we  divide  the  world 
longitudinally  into  three  slices,  beginning  from 
about  25  West,  we  obtain  the  three  actual  worlds: 
the  OCCIDENTAL,  between  the  EXTREME  ORIENTAL 
(from  90  East  to  150  West)  and  the  American 
(from  150  West  to  25  West).  Or,  if  you  prefer 
to  cut  the  world  into  four  slices,  very  well,  you 
will  have:  for  the  first  (25  W.  to  65  E.)  our  HIS- 
TORIC WORLD;  then  eastward  (to  155)  the  Orient, 
Hindu,  Japanese,  Chinese,  Malayan;  therefrom 
to  115  W.,  the  mysterious  Pacific  whose  isles 
appear  here  and  there  like  the  last  remaining 
columns  of  a  destroyed  temple;  and  finally, 
America. 


162  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Over  these  four  quarters  of  the  earth  are  reign- 
ing each  moment  the  four  parts  of  the  day,  in 
such  a  way  that,  if  we  wish,  we  may  subdivide 
it  into  24  parts,  like  the  face  of  a  clock.  Each 
twelfth  of  this  longitudinal  clock  —  each  couple 
of  hours  —  means  a  civilization.  To  gratify  Japan, 
we  call  her  the  Empire  of  the  Rising  Sun,  whose 
light  announces  a  vernal  day;  while  the  day 
breaks,  calm  morning  has  dawned  over  Korea, 
the  laborious  day  has  commenced  for  New  Zealand ; 
when  it  is  but  half  past  nine  in  smiling  Tahiti 
the  first  quarter  of  the  day  is  already  ending  in 
the  Far  West.  Two  o'clock,  three  o'clock,  moment 
of  the  siesta,  sound  over  the  ancient  colonies, 
those  which  threw  off  the  yoke  of  England  in  the 
18th  century  and  the  lighter  yoke  of  Spain  in  the 
19th.  It  is  four  o'clock  in  pensive  Brazil  and 
six  on  the  Atlantic.  Our  western  Europe  is 
contemplating  the  sunset,  —  eight  o'clock  already ! 
Twilight  is  enveloping  Germany  and  the  Angelus 
is  sounding  in  Rome.  Night  is  closing  over 
Greece,  over  Egypt  and  Judea;  it  is  ten  and 
eleven  o'clock  in  Arabia  and  Chaldea.  Midnight 
sounds  in  the  land  of  Ahriman  and  Tamerlane! 
The  rest  of  the  night  possesses,  the  first  two  hours 
India  and  Thibet,  and  the  hours  before  dawn 
Annam  and  China. 

Need  we  remind  ourselves  that  to  each  of 
these  couples  of  hours  the  spirit  of  analogy  attached 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  163 

a  sign  of  the  zodiac,  with  the  god  placed  over  it 
by  the  ancient  Greeks,  Hindus,  etc.? 

Thus,  space  and  time  being  united,  let  us  now 
recall  those  Centuries  whose  evolution  we  com- 
pared, four  by  four,  to  that  of  the  seasons. 

Each  of  these  centuries  producing  three  genera- 
tions, a  generation  relates  itself,  in  the  mind  of 
the  dreamer,  to  a  Month,  —  as,  on  the  above 
longitudinal  clock,  to  a  Two-hour  Period  and  to 
the  civilizations  which  we  have  just  seen  marked 
out  by  them,  —  or  to  a  pair  of  Homeric  cantos, 
etc.  It  relates  itself  likewise  to  one  of  the  12 
great  Gods.  And  the  verifications  of  this,  in 
our  own  annals,  is  curious. 

We  know  that  our  great  national  dynasty  of 
the  Capetians  connected  itself  with  Charlemagne, 
glory  of  the  preceding,  by  his  cousin-german 
Nebelong,  grandfather  of  Robert-le-Fort.  Twelve 
generations  later  is  attained  its  own  supreme 
glory  in  Saint  Louis;  another  twelve  generations, 
and  it  produced  the  splendid  Louis  XIV.  It  is 
pleasing  to  find,  in  connection  with  each  of  these 
great  men,  the  same  importance  accorded  to  the 
mother,  whether  Bertha  Broad-foot,  Blanche  of 
Castile  or  Anne  of  Austria.  Pepin  de  Landen 
and  Saint  Arnulf  were  the  two  pillars  of  that 
dynasty.  The  scrupulous  piety  which  caused 
both  to  be  beatified  characterized,  36  generations 


164  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

later  (3  x  12)  the  comte  de  Chambord,  and,  in 
the  interval,  it  bent  the  knees,  for  a  moment 
rebellious,  of  Philippe  I,  and  surged  beneath  the 
shining  armor  of  St.  Jeanne  d'Arc.  It  is,  in 
short,  the  generation  of  Vesta. 

Louis  XI  and  Louis  XIV  belong,  in  two  dif- 
ferent branches,  to  a  like  generation:  they  have 
(from  Juno)  the  spirit  of  chicanery  which,  12 
generations  earlier,  showed  itself  so  plainly  in 
their  not  less  popular  ancestor  Louis-le-Gros. 

Ambition  to  the  point  of  imprudence  is  shown 
in  three  branches  of  the  family,  also  in  a  like 
generation,  by  Charles  VIII,  Francis  I  and  Antoine 
de  Bourbon,  repeating  thus  the  moral  physiognomy 
of  Louis-le-Jeune  and  Pepin  d'Heristal. 

Likewise  a  Henri  IV,  eloquent  and  ingenious 
(Minerva),  repeats  at  12  generations'  distance f 
almost  trait  for  trait,  the  Ulyssean  type  of  Philippe- 
August  e. 

After  this,  one  will  hardly  be  surprised  to  meet, 
in  the  generations  consecrated  to  the  orgiac  Ceres, 
the  scandals  of  the  TOUR  DE  NESLE  and  those  of 
the  PARC  AUX  CERFS,  nor  to  see  the  weakness 
(Diana)  of  this  family  drag  it  down  with  the 
foolish  Charles  VI,  and,  12  generations  later,  with 
Louis  XVII,  with  the  Due  de  Berry  and  Ferdinand 
d' Orleans.  Was  it  for  want  of  a  Duguesclin 
(Mars),  we  ask,  that  Louis  XVI,  at  least  as 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  165 

worthy  the  name  of  "Sage"  as  his  corresponding 
duodenaire  Charles  V,  found  himself  overwhelmed 
by  a  militarist  generation?  — a  generation  which, 
deluded  by  a  duodecimal  remembrance,  thought 
it  found  in  Marie-Antoinette  of  Austria  another 
Isabel  of  Bavaria,  and  in  the  Comte  d'Artois  a 
Charles  d'Orleans,  and  whose  first  achievement 
as  soon  as  it  came  into  power,  was  the  inaugura- 
tion of  twenty-five  years  of  senseless  wars.  Thus 
was  the  way  opened  for  Napoleon,  who  lacked 
the  control  of  a  suzerain  and  moderate  advisor, 
whose  wisdom  might  have  avoided  for  us  the 
final  Waterloo.  Another  possibility:  if  the  honest 
but  weak  Henri  V  was  unable  to  reclaim  his  throne, 
or  Napoleon  III  to  maintain  himself  upon  his, 
was  it  through  lack  of  a  rhythm  remaining  suffi- 
ciently vibrant  in  the  exhausted  race  of  the 
former,  or  of  a  rhythm  sufficiently  well  estab- 
lished in  the  upstart  race  of  the  latter,  and  because 
the  qualities  of  the  two  could  not  be  united  in  a 
single  man  capable  of  responding  to  the  imperious 
appeal  of  the  new  dogmas  proclaimed  by  Pius  IX? 

What  history  needs,  as  vertebral  column,  is  a 
duly  organized  science  of  Comparative  Heredity. 
Of  this  science  we  possess  the  documents,  marvel- 
ously  in  order,  in  the  genealogies  of  the  great 
families.  We  have  only  to  note  the  laws. 

Now  a  law  does  not  exist  in  itself.    A  law  simply 


166     THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

establishes  the  more  or  less  frequent  return  of 
an  analogous  association  between  phenomena, 
and  of  these  phenomena  it  terms  the  more  ancient 
the  CAUSE  and  the  more  recent  the  EFFECT.* 
The  return  which  permits  it  to  verify  once  more 
this  association,  this  succession,  — what  is  it  but 
Rhythm?  Thus  it  is  the  mission  of  the  scholar 
to  ascertain  rhythms. 

All  life  is  movement;  all  movement  is  observed 
from  the  point  of  view  of  a  relative  immobility, 
of  a  repetition,  of  an  identity  rediscovered  here 
and  there  in  the  moving  stream.  From  these 
rhythms  to  be  studied  in  history,  I  have  selected 
the  most  obvious,  —  as  well  as  the  most  dis- 
quieting. 

What  is  this  strange  duodenary  rhythm,  the 
only  common  dividend  of  2,  3  and  4,  which  we 
have  felt  vibrating,  beat  by  beat, 

through  heredity, 

through  the  history  of  a  people, 

through  that  of  humanity  entire, 

in  the  roles  which  the  various  races  of  the  world 
have  seized  upon  simultaneously  or  have  be- 
queathed to  one  another, 

in  the  flight  of  the  hours  which  sound  over  their 
sleep  or  their  activity, 

in  the  dance  of  the  seasons  and  the  months, 

in  that  of  the  years  of  our  lives, 

*See,  on  this  subject,  the  fine  works  of  M.  Lotus  Weber  in  the 
REVUE  PHILOSOPHIQUE. 


THE  TWELVE  GODS  OF  ALL  NATIONS  167 

in  that  of  generations  and  centuries, 

in  the  division  of  public  powers, 

in  the  equilibrium  of  Europe, 

in  that  of  the  world, 

in  that  of  each  nation, 

of  each  of  its  cities, 

in  the  philosophic  systems  of  various  peoples, 

in  the  heresies  which  rend  religious  faith , 

in  the  articles  of  its  Creed, 

in  the  ceremonies  of  worship, 

in  song, 

in  the  poetic  metres  of  all  literatures, 

in  the  composition  of  the  greatest  poems, 

in  the  conflicts  of  the  drama  and  in  legendary 
cycles, 

in  the  idolatries, 

in  the  series  of  gods,  into  which  are  absorbed, 
and  among  which  are  ranged,  one  after  another, 
prophets,  apostles,  eponyms,  animals  of  the  fables, 
and  heroes  of  fairy  tales,  —  even  the  popular 
heroes  acclaimed  by  our  contemporaries? 

And  still  I  have  not  detailed  the  12  terrains 
which  geologists  discover  between  the  central  and 
unknown  regions  of  Earth  and  the  simple  "allu- 
vions" of  its  epidermis,  nor  the  dozen  upheavals 
which  have  moulded  it !  Nor  the  12  solid  elements 
found  in  a  free  state  in  nature  (antimony,  sulphur, 
arsenic,  platinum,  copper,  gold,  mercury,  bis- 
muth, tellure,  carbon,  iron,  silver).  Nor  the 


168     THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

3x4  embranchments  which  Delafosse,  Linne  and 
Cuvier  count  in  nature,  nor  the  2  x  12  classes  which 
Cuvier  enumerates  for  the  animal  kingdom,  nor 
the  general  tendency  of  all  these  "orders"  toward 
multiples  of  the  same  number  12. 

What  is  it,  this  strange,  obsessing  rhythm? 

It  is  the  rhythm  of  Life.  Hear  it  beating  in 
your  own  heart,  in  your  arteries,  in  your  nerves 

What  we  have  done  for  the  Temperaments  and 
the  Seasons,  in  drawing  the  innumerable  analogies 
which  they  suggest,  what  we  have  done  for  the 
six  directions  in  which  our  energies,  born  of  the 
explosive  binary  combinations  of  temperaments, 
can  dart  over  the  three  dimensions  of  space,  what 
we  have  begun  for  the  twelve  ARfiTES  or  god-types 
recognized  in  all  religions  and  all  social  groupings, 
we  have  but  to  study  more  and  more  deeply,  in 
descending,  step  by  step,  into  the  mysteries  of 
the  human  heart,  by  means  of  patient  comparison 
of  the  secondary  types  which  will  be  successively 
engendered  before  us,  carefully  distinguishing  them 
one  from  another  in  their  most  intimate  details. 

The  task  is  infinite,  and  I  do  not  pretend  to 
have  completed  it,  but  at  least  we  shall  lay  hold 
upon  realities  not  heretofore  grasped,  thanks  to 
the  classification  now  to  be  opened,  —  the  first 
attempted  classification,  I  believe,  of  the  unnum- 
bered Characters  which,  whether  real  or  imaginary, 
obsess  the  divers  peoples  of  the  earth. 


General  Classification  of 
Human  Beings 

CHAPTER  X 

I  —  PLAN  OF  THE  CLASSIFICATION 

Each  of  our  12  Types  will  necessarily  be  divided 
into  two,  according  to  the  TWO  SEXES  which  affect 
it. 

How  many  are  the  masculine  roles  for  which 
we  find  no  feminine  equivalent  in  literature,  — 
or  even  in  history,  equally  blind  and  partial,  it 
would  seem,  by  contagion!  The  simple  obser- 
vation of  this  fact  alone  suffices  to  cause  to  spring 
up  in  each  of  these  lacunae  a  feminine  type  here- 
tofore unperceived.  To  this  useful  evocation, 
announced  in  the  early  pages  of  this  book,  the 
present  chapter  will  be  primarily  devoted. 

But  the  binary  subclassification  of  our  human 
Museum  will  soon  become  quaternary,  —  as  soon 
as  we  shall  observe  it  in  the  light  of  the  two  great 
aspects  of  life,  the  TRAGIC  and  COMIC.  And  even 
from  the  colorless  mass  of  intermediaries  ("serious 
characters,"  a  species  of  hermaphrodite  adapted 
to  double  usage)  how  many  phantoms  may  be 
brought  under  one  or  another  of  these  lights  to 
be  animated!  We  have  already  seen  the  devel- 


170     THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

opment  of  this  method  in  Chapter  III  (NEW 
COMBINATIONS),  and  have  seen  thus  produced 
by  the  combination  of  Comic  and  Tragic  charac- 
ters, the  secondary  series  of  characters  Parodic, 
Paradoxical,  Odious  presented  sympathetically, 
Sympathetic  rendered  repugnant,  Grotesque 
treated  seriously,  Serious  treated  with  deri- 
sion, etc. 

Finally,  we  shall  see,  at  the  end  of  the  following 
chapter,  how  this  quadruple  hypostasis,  inevit- 
able for  each  of  our  12  divine  Types  (male  and 
female,  tragic  and  comic)  will  be  multiplied  by 
the  various  ages  of  life  and  the  various  social 
ranks,  in  which,  turn  by  turn,  it  may  be  studied. 

What  penury  we  find,  in  our  letters,  of  Old 
People  differentiated  one  from  another!  How 
little  varied  are  the  Bachelors,  —  or  the  Chil- 
dren! In  contrast  to  the  Intellectual  (brahmin, 
artist,  scholar,  etc.),  to  the  Warrior  and  to  the 
Man  of  Money  (bourgeois,  merchant,  etc.),  how 
little  shaded  are  the  people  of  the  masses!  Even 
our  "naturalistic"  writers  still  confound  the  souls 
of  a  cabinet-maker  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Antoine, 
of  a  mason,  of  a  day-laborer,  that  modern  pariah 
without  hope,  and  of  that  pretentious  aristocrat 
the  house-painter! 

We  shall  content  ourselves,  in  this  classifica- 
tion —  neglecting  for  the  moment  the  questions 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  171 

of  Rank  and  Age  as  secondary  nuances  —  with 
submitting  the  tetrad  which  inevitably  results 
from  the  two  sexes  and  the  two  principal  aspects, 
comic  and  tragic,  to  a  simple  TERNARY  SUBDIVI- 
SION of  each  Divine  Type. 

We  may,  in  short,  inscribe  under  Vesta  (whose 
line  forms,  it  will  be  remembered,  the  frontier 
between  idealization  and  emotion)  natures  PIOUS 
and  FAITHFUL,  placing  between  them  the  SAGES 
in  the  broadest  sense  of  the  word.  Under  Juno 
(ARETE,  as  we  have  seen,  between  activity  and 
possessivity)  we  place  natures  JEALOUS  and 
SEVERE;  between  them  the  VINDICTIVE.  Under 
Neptune  (possessivity  and  idealization  or  abstrac- 
tion) will  be  ranged  the  AVARICIOUS  and  AMBI- 
TIOUS, flanking  the  DESPOTIC.  Under  Minerva 
(idealization  and  self -manifestation)  natures  ELO- 
QUENT and  DARING,  and  between  these  two  groups 
the  ADVENTURERS.  Under  Venus  (emotionalism 
and  materialism)  we  will  inscribe  the  SEDUCTIVE 
and  the  VICIOUS,  on  either  side  the  PROSTITUTES. 
Under  Apollo  (emotion  and  self-manifestation) 
natures  PASSIONATE  and  ARTISTIC,  between  them 
that  which  our  century,  fathoming  an  antique 
presentiment,  has  called  the  FATED  or  ILL- 
STARRED.  Under  Mercury  (who  marks  the  limit 
of  abstract  idealization  and  energetic  activity) 
will  be  disposed  the  SHREWD  and  the  UNSCRUPU- 
LOUS, beside  the  TRAITOROUS  and  PERFIDIOUS. 


172     THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Under  Jupiter  (self-manifestation  and  activity) 
natures  ARROGANT  and  PROTECTING;  between  these 
groups  the  LOFTY  and  MAJESTIC.  Under  Ceres 
(materialism  and  possessivity)  the  PRODIGAL  and 
the  PRACTICAL,  between  them  inserting  the  SEN- 
SUAL. Under  Vulcan  (manifestation  and  mater- 
ialism) the  LABORIOUS  and  also  the  DUPED  or 
DELUDED,  between  whom  the  SELF-SACRIFICING 
will  take  their  place.  Under  Mars  (energetic 
activity  and  materialism)  natures  VIOLENT  to  a 
murderous  degree,  and  the  most  AUDACIOUS, 
surrounding  the  REBELLIOUS.  Finally,  under 
Diana  (emotion  and  possessivity)  the  SENTI- 
MENTAL and  the  CHASTE,  succeeding  to  the  WEAK 
or  TIMID. 

The  terms  of  the  classification  are  necessarily 
imperfect  and  too  elastic,  and  less  important  than 
the  groups  themselves,  under  whose  heads  I  have 
used  them  only  in  default  of  better;  each  of  these 
36  groups  exhibits  nevertheless  a  remarkable 
coherence,  and  it  is  this  alone  which  concerns  us- 

This  coherence  will  extend  to  each  one  of  the 
sub-groups.  These  will  present  themselves  in 
variable  numbers,  thus  providing  lacunae  more 
and  more  numerous,  which  we  shall  observe  and 
measure  in  descending  into  the  individual  realities 
here  explored.  But  their  number,  although  vari- 
able, tends  always,  in  curious  fashion,  toward 
the  Dozen. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  173 

II  —  CLASSIFICATION 

VESTA 
I  —  THE  Pious 

1.  The  Constant.     Examples:  besides  the  Vir- 
gin, the  purest  of  the  Saints,  the  Mexican  Koat- 
likoe,    the    Hindu    Aghdi    and    Andjani,    Liane 
(in  Richter's  TITAN);  Louis  IX,  Joachim  in  THE 
POWER  OF  DARKNESS.     This  category  does  not 
admit  of  parody,  —  a  case  perhaps  unique.     A 
nuance  of  serene  resignation,  that  of  Job  or  of 
Celestin  V,  is  wanting  in  the  feminine  examples 
(apart,  of  course,  from  the  Virgin). 

2.  Religious   Scholars,   Theologians:     TCHANG 
THE   ANCHORET,    Aeneas,    St.    Thomas   Aquinas. 
In   the   feminine:    Peta,   Anouke   the   Egyptian, 
Beatrice  (PARADISE),  Clementine  de  Rothschild, 
St.    Gertrude.     In    this    last    there    appears,    in 
softened  and  milder  form,  the  venerable  physiog- 
nomy of  Friar  Laurence   (ROMEO  AND  JULIET), 
Friar  Bonaventure  (in  Ford's  'TIS  PITY     .      .)> 
Mordecai    (ESTHER),    Noah    under    his    various 
names,  Hebrew,  Chinese,  Hindu,  Aztec,  Chaldean, 
etc. 

3.  Mystics:     Madame  Swetchine,  Marie  Ala- 
coque,  Bernadette,  SALAMMB6,   Angelique   (Zola, 
LE  RfivE),  HANNELE  MATERNE;  Don  Sebastian 


174  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

(Calderon,  FOR  SECRET  OUTRAGE  .  .),  Ruben 
(in  Picard's  JERICHO).  Nekhludoff  (in  Tolstoi's 
RESURRECTION)  connects  this  type  with  modern 
humanitarianism. 

4.  The  Superstitious  (the  comic  aspect  of  2  and 
3).     Examples:  masculine,   none;  feminine,   pos- 
sibly the  vague  Madame  de  Noares   (BOUVARD 
AND  PECUCHET).     Menander  had  painted  Phidias 
as  THE  SUPERSTITIOUS,  in  using  the  14  funda- 
mental traits  indicated  by  THEOPHRASTUS. 

5.  Bigots.     Examples    are    few.      What    fine 
parodies  of  6  and  7  could  here  be  made! 

6.  The   Ardently   Devout.     Examples:    BAR- 
LAAM   (St.   John   Chrysostom),   POLYEUCTE,   THE 

CONSTANT  PRINCE  (Calderon),  SAINT  LUDWINE 

(Huysmans),  THEODORE  (Corneille). 

7.  Fanatics:      TORQUEMADA,      Pastor     Kroll 
(Ibsen,  ROSMERSHOLM),  Jin  THE  FANATIC  of  the 
Chinese  theatre;  the  Protestant  Madame  Moise 
Piedefer  and  the  Catholic  Angelique  de  Granville 
(Balzac,    THE    MUSE    OF    THE    DEPARTMENT,    A 

DOUBLE  FAMILY),  MADAME  GERVAISAIS  (the  Gon- 
courts). 

8.  Hypocrites    are   not    connected   with    this 
group  except  as  its  opposites;  they  are  to  it  what 
Braggarts  are  to  the  Brave.    After  Plutarch,  La 
Bruydre  carefully  indicated  the  identity  of  the 
hypocrite,  the  unbeliever  and  the  libertine ;  Molidre 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  175 

also,  in  his  DON  JUAN  as  in  his  TARTUFE. 
Examples:  Thwackum  in  Fielding's  TOM  JONES, 
the  modern  and  philanthropic  De  Climal  (Man. 
vaux,  LA  VIE  DE  MARIANNE) .  Feminine  examples 
are  less  marked:  Papelardie  in  the  ROMAN  DE 
LA  ROSE,  or  the  Marta  of  the  genial  Tirso  de 
Molina. 

9.  The  feminine  sex  alone,  however,  has  given 
consistent    Prudes    to    literature:    Arsino6    in 
Moliere,    GLYCfiRE    (La    Bruyere,    CHARACTERS), 
and,  more  sympathetic,   LA  FAUSSE  AGNES  and 
Angelique  in  THE  PARISIENNE  (Destouches) . 

10.  Hypocrite  by  Necessity,  Madame  Graslin 
(Balzac,    C6UNTRY    PARSON)    is    connected    with 

11.  Tragic   Hypocrites:     Cromwell,   Elizabeth 
of  England.     There  are  few  good  modern  studies. 

II --THE  WISE 

I  trust  the  Hellenists  will  here  pardon  me:  the 
Wise  appear  to  me  to  belong  to  Vesta,  even 
though  captured,  in  adventurous  Greece,  by 
Athene,  whom  we  have  seen  grow  equally  at  the 
expense  of  Ares,  Artemis,  Hermes  and  Apollo. 
Let  us  first  inspect  the  cortege  of 

1.  The   Impious:     THE   LIBERTINE   (Lessing); 
Barbarina  (Gozzi,  THE  GREEN  BIRD). 

2.  Sarcastic  Philosophers :     Voltaire,  Mephisto, 
Schopenhauer;  feminine  examples  are  lacking. 


176      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

3.  They  are  likewise  lacking  for  the  Sceptics: 
Dr.  Relling  (Ibsen,  THE  WILD  DUCK). 

4.  Jovial  Sages:     Rabelais,  Guido  Cavalcanti 
(Boccacio,  DECAMERON  VI,  4),  Luc  (Gorki,  THE 
LOWER  DEPTHS) .     Olympe  (Dancourt ,  THE  PARIS- 
IENNE)  is  weak  by  comparison. 

5.  JEsopic  Sages:    JEsop  in  the  two  comedies 
of   Boursault,    the    Socrates    of   the    BANQUETS, 
Melchisedec   (Decameron   I,   3),   that   prototype 
of  NATHAN  THE  WISE,  the  ingenious  and  loqua- 
cious M.   Bergeret;  the  young  Chinese  woman, 
PEACH-BLOSSOM,    and,   in   Plutarch,   the   wife   of 
the  covetous  Pythes. 

6.  Adventurous     Sages:     ZANONI     (Bulwer- 
Lytton),   the  Marquis  de  Posa   (DON   CARLOS), 
Anarcharsis,  Abaris  the  Hyperborean,  ARCHYTAS 
DE   METAPONTE    (Mazel)    and  his   Theano;   Par- 
thenia  (Halm,  INGOMAR  THE  BARBARIAN). 

7.  Soothsayers    and    Good    Counsellors:    the 
Argonaut    Idmon,    Helenus,    Protes,    Poltis    the 
Thracian    king;    Egeria,    Cassandra,    the   Sybils, 
Bertha  and  Gertrude  in  WILLIAM  TELL. 

8.  Healers:    Borvo  the  god  of  Gaulish  origin 
and  his  wife  Damona,  Aesculapius,  the  physicians 
of  the  modern  novel  and  the  MIRES  of  the  Middle 
Ages,    as   much    masculine   as   feminine;   not    a 
single  case  of  the  latter  sex  has  been  well  drawn 
in  literature. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  177 

9.  Venerable    Sages:     Prospero    (THE    TEM- 
PEST), Nestor,  Naimes    (CHANSON    DE    ROLAND), 
Sahadeva;    feminine,    Marguerite    de    Parma 
(EGMONT). 

10.  Sad  or  Stern  Sages:     Cato   (PHARSALIA), 
Hegesias,  the  Buddha;  Anne   (d'Annunzio,  THE 
DEAD  CITY). 

11.  Feeble     Sages:     Lambert     (Claudel,     LA 
VlLLE),  Titurel  (PARSIFAL);  no  feminine  examples. 

12.  Sages  of  Comic  Aspect:     Primrose  in  THE 
VICAR  OF  WAKEFIELD. 

13.  Simple  Sages:    Vincent  (Mowinsky,  THE 
BLOWS  OF  FATE),  the  FIELD  MOUSE  (La  Fontaine). 

t 

14.  Sages  of  Deep  Understanding:     Christine 
de   Pisane,    Blanche   of   Castile,    Isabella    (Lope, 
DISCOVERY  OF  THE   NEW  WORLD),  Juliana 
D'Acosta;  Sully. 

15.  Intellectual    Sages:     Dr.    Nangel    (Ibsen, 
THE  LADY  FROM  THE  SEA),  Liu-thong-pin  in  THE 
TRANSMIGRATION  OF  YO-CHEOU. 

16.  Prudent  Sages:     Northumberland  in  KING 
HENRY  IV,  the  wandering  ascetic  in  SAKUNTALA; 
no  feminine  examples  unless  it  be  in  comedy,  the 
Elise,  Eliante  and  Henriette  of  Moliere. 

17.  Home-lovers:     Domicius  the  god  of  the 
home,   the   Lares  and  Penates,   Deverrona.     No 
particularized  literary  studies. 


178  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS     , 

III  —  THE  FAITHFUL 

1.  Spouses:    Penelope    (ODYSSEY),    Sita 
(RAMAYANA),    Tchaou-nyang    (THE    Pl-PA-KI), 
Kadidjah,   Madame  Stockmann   (AN  ENEMY  OF 
THE   PEOPLE),    Savitri    (MAHABHARATA),    Mar- 
guerite  de   Provence,    etc.     Masculine   examples 
are   rare:    Xedor   the   Japanese   saint,    and   the 
husband  in  LA  DORMEUSE  (A.  de.  Lorde). 

2.  In    Comedy:    Angela    (Gozzi,    THE    STAG 
KING),  Elvire  (TARTUFE);  no  masculine  examples- 

3.  Spouses  Faithful  from  Duty  alone,  without 
Love.    Examples:    masculine,    none;    feminine: 
Monime  (BAJAZET). 

4.  Faithful  even  to  Sacrifice:     Madame  Hulot 
(COUSIN  BETTE),  Madame  Claes  (QUEST  OF  THE 
ABSOLUTE),    Silvia    (d'Annunzio,    GlOCONDA), 
Madame  Roy£re  (Bernstein,  JOUJOU).     No  mas- 
culine examples. 

5.  Constant  Fiancees:     Solveig  (PEER  GYNT), 
Elizabeth    (TANNHAUSER),    Julie    (NOUVELLE 
HELOISE).     One  masculine  example,  which  comes 
from   the   Far   East:   the   student   Kouo-hoa   in 
THE  PLEDGED  SLIPPER. 

6.  Sacrificed  Mistresses:     GERTRUDE   (Bouch- 
inet),  LA  RICKE  DU  PASTEUR  (Erik  Schlaikjers). 
See   others   under   Diana.     The   masculine   type 
hardly  exists. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  179 

7.  Obstinately  Faithful  Widowhood:    ANDRO- 
MAQUE,    Cornelia    (PHARSALIA),    Madri    (MAHAB- 
HARATA),  Arganthonis  (Parthenius,  EROTICS),  Jac- 
ques Brigaut  (Balzac,  PIERRETTE). 

8.  Misunderstood  Fidelity:    SAKUNTALA,  Gen- 
evieve  de  Brabant,  (Tieck,  Jean  Conan),  Griselda 
(Boccacio,    Silvestre),    BERTHE    AU    GRAND    PIE 
(Adenes  le  Roi);  masculine  examples,   different 
enough:    COLONEL    CHABERT    (Balzac),    JACQUES 

DAMOUR  (Zola). 

9.  Fathers  and  Mothers:    Dacaratha  (RAMAY- 
ANA),   Timour   (Gozzi,   TURANDOT),   OLD   GORIOT 
(Balzac),   A#se   (PEER  GYNT),   Sabine   (Hervieu, 

THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  TORCH).  In  comic  aspect: 
Pantalon  (Gozzi,  THE  STAG  KING),  Sostrate 
(Terence,  HAUTONTIMORUMENOS). 

10.  Comic  Brothers:  no  notable  cases.     Comic 
Sisters:    BRIGITTE  (Meilhac  and  Halevy),  Serious: 
Bartholomew  Columbus  (Lope,  DISCOVERY  OF  THE 
NEW  WORLD),  Valentine  (FAUST);  they  are  much 
inferior  to  the  Sisters:  ELECTRA,  Anna  (Marlowe, 
DUX)). 

11.  Daughters    and    Sons:    ANTIGONE,    Cor- 
delia (LEAR),  TELEMAQUE,  TCHAO-LI,  Pourouvaca, 
Lausus    (AENEID).     No   interesting   examples   in 
the  comic  genre. 

12.  Other     Relatives:     LA    GRAND'    MERE 
(Hugo),    the    aunts    Zephirine    de    Guenic    and 


180  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Countess  d'Esgrignon  in  Balzac's  BEATRIX ;  sister- 
in-law,  his  Duchess  de  Soria  (MEMOIRS  OF  TWO 
YOUNG  WIVES);  nieces,  his  Pierrette  Cambremer 
(A  SEA-SHORE  DRAMA) ;  daughter-in-law,  the  sur- 
prising Li  in  SlE-JIN-KOUEI;  UNCLE  VANIA 
(Chekhov)  and  the  Abb6  Lef£vre,  uncle  of  LOUIS 
LAMBERT. 

13.  Adoptive    Parents:      MANOUNE    (Marni), 
Josabeth     (ATHALIE),    BENOITE     (AND     BENOIT, 
Haraucourt) ;  Ananda,  St.  Joseph.     For  Fosterers 
see  Vulcan. 

14.  Disciples:     The      Apostles,      the      Holy 
Women. 

15.  Friends:     No  good  feminine  types  in  the 
comic  but  LlDOIRE  (Courteline) ;  the  academician 
Ho-tchi-tchan    (THE    GAGE    OF    LOVE).     In    the 
tragic:  the  Princess  de  Lamballe,  Isabelle  (Zelinski, 
BARBARA  RADZIWILL)   and  Mile  Gay   (Duranty, 
FRANCOISE   DE    QUESNAY)    do   not   equal   either 
Pylade    or    Schmucke    (COUSIN    PONS)    or    Paz 
(THE  FALSE  MISTRESS)  or  Horatio  (HAMLET). 

JUNO 

I  —  THE  JEALOUS 

1.     Wives    and    Husbands:     Dejanira    (THE 
TRACHINIANS  etc.),  MJ&ROPE,   OTHELLO,   MITH- 

RIDATE,  ANGELO.     Comic:  the  husband  confessor 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  181 

in  Boccacio  and  various  "Sganarelles"  who  will 
be  found  under  Vulcan;  Alcmene  (AMPHITRYON). 

2.  Lovers:     Comic  feminine  example :  the  Mar- 
quise (Baron,  LE  COQUET  TROMPE);  tragic:  Her- 
mione,  MARIE  TUDOR.     Tragic  masculine  example : 
Montes  de  Montejanos  (COUSIN  BETTE);  comic: 
Robin  (LE  JEU  DU  BERGER  ET  DE  LA  BERGERE), 
Albert     (LES    FOLIES    AMOUREUSES),    FLORENTIN 
(La  Fontaine). 

3.  Jealous  Adulterers:  there  are  few  but  tragic 
and  feminine  cases:     Roxane  (BAJAZET),  Vasilissa 
(Gorki,  THE  LOWER  DEPTHS),  Addle  (Descaves 
and  Donnay',  LA  CLAIRIERE). 

4.  The    Scorned    and    Revengefully  Jealous: 
Countess    Orsina    (Lessing,    EMILIA    GALOTTl), 

MADAME  DE  LA  POMMERAYE  (Diderot);  Fulbert 
the  butcher  of  Abelard.     No  comic  examples. 

5.  Jealousy  without  the  Desire  of  Possessing: 
Diana  de  Belflor  (Lope,  THE  GARDENER'S  DOG). 
No  equivalent  masculine  case. 

6.  Love  through  Jealousy:     Morin  (Candillot, 
CONJUGAL    DUTY).     Few    distinct    feminine    ex- 
amples. 

7.  Retrospective  Jealousy:     Michel   (Wilhelm 
Feldmann,    THE    SHADOW);    the    too    theoretical 
Svava  Bjornson,  A  GAUNTLET). 

8.  Jealousy  of  a  Pure  Affection  (for  a  child): 


182      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

George  Braux  (Fleg,  THE  MESSAGE) ;  no  feminine 
examples.  There  is  no  symmetric  masculine  for 
Heldne  d'Aiglemont  drowning  her  little  brother 
from  jealousy  (A  WOMAN  OF  THIRTY). 

9.  Jealousy  of  Friends:  no  examples. 

10.  Jealousy  of  a  Mother's  New  Loves:  the 
little  Grandjean  (Zola,  UNE  PAGE  D'AMOUR). 

11.  Of  a  Father's:  no  examples. 

II  —  THE  VENGEFUL  AND  JUST 

1.  The  Passionately  Revengeful:  ROUSSALKA 
(Pushkin),  Olympias  the  terrible  mother  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great ;  Jean-sans-peur,  MONTE  CRISTO. 
No  comic  examples. 

2.  Righteous  Avengers  of  their  Cause:  Gideon. 
No  comic  examples. 

3.  The  Irascible:     Madame  Guillemot  (Bour- 
sault,  LE  MERCURE  GALANT);  THRASILLE  (La 
Bruyere).     There   are  no  romantic  and   almost 
no  tragic  examples. 

4.  Avengers   of   their    Honor:    Vera    Gelo, 
Mathilde  (Frank  Verax,  Sanglante  probldme) ;  Don 
Diego  in  THE  ClD.     No  comic  examples. 

5.  Avengers  of  the  Honor  of  Relatives:    Tri- 
boulet  (LE  ROI S' AMUSE),  Odard  (EMILIA  GALOTTl) ; 
few  good  feminine  examples. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  183 

6.  Avengers  of  Kindred:    Hamon  (Beaumont 
and  Fletcher,  ROLLO);  Emilie  (ClNNA),  the  ROSA- 
MONDES   of   Rucellai   and   of  Alfieri;    Constance 
(KING  JOHN),  Althee. 

7.  Avenger  of  a  Mistress:     Tuzani  (Calderon, 
LOVE  AFTER  DEATH):  of  a  wife:  Macduff;  of  a 
husband  or  lover:  LA  TOSCA  (Sardou). 

8.  Avenger  of  Friends :  SON  POTEAU  (Metenier) . 
No  symmetric  example  in  the  other  sex. 

9.  Avenger  of  Compatriots:  Xenocrite  ridding 
Cumes  of  the  tyrant  Aristodeme  the   Delicate, 
Charlotte.  Corday,  Judith;  see  the  following  group, 
also  masculine  examples  under  Tyrannicides  in 
Mars. 

10.  Judges  or  Enforcers  of  Justice:     Nemesis 
and    her    counterparts    in    various    paganisms; 
Aeschylus  (Alfieri,  TlMOLEON),  the  elder  Brutus. 
A  parody,  which  is  lacking  in  the  preceding  case, 
is  here  sketched  in  Ibsen's  Gregers  Wefle  (THE 

WILD  DUCK). 

Ill  —  THE  STRICT  AND  SEVERE 

1.  Unmerciful  Scolds:  Grietje  (Mitchell  and 
Leborne,  THE  ABSENT)  insufficiently  counter- 
balances the  physician  Coitier  (Delavigne,  LOUIS 
XI)  or  Brother  Archangias  (Zola,  LA  FAUTE  DE 
L'ABBE  MOURET).  These  are  parodied  in 


184      THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

2.  Grumblers    and     Faultfinders:     Madame 
Pernelle   (Tartufe),  Madame   Grognac  (Regnard, 
LE  DISTRAIT);  Clistorel,  that  Coitier  of  comedy 
(Regnard,  LE  LEGATAIRE),  Geronte  in  LE  JOUEUR, 

THE  PHILOSOPHER  MARRIED  (Destouches),  Anti- 

phon,  (Plautus,  STICHUS),  Simon,  Demea,  Demi- 
phon,  and  Menedemus  in  the  works  of  Terence, 
a  specialist  in  this  type. 

3.  THE   MISANTHROPE  of  Molidre,  purely 
comic,    derives   from   this   class.     There   are   no 
feminine   examples   for   this,    nor   for   the   more 
serious  case  of  Jacques  (As  YOU  LIKE  IT). 

4.  Misogynists:     We    have    lost    Menander's, 
who  was  called  Demyle.     Lessing's  MISOGYNIST 
is  Wumshoeter,  La  Fontaine's  is  Anselme  (THE 
ENCHANTED   CUP).     The  corresponding  feminine 
man-hater  is  lacking  —  and  both  masculine  and 
feminine  are  lacking  in  the  tragic! 

5.  Puritans:     Pastor   Holm   (Engel,    ON   THE 
WATERS) ;  Miss  Stevens  in  Balzac. 

6.  Scathing  Critics:    TlMON  OF  ATHENS,  the 
Prophets,  Juvenal,  Leon  Bloy;  no    feminine  ex- 
amples.    Cato  and  Jean- Jacques  lead  to 

7.  Malcontents:    Prince  Andrei  (Tolstoi,  WAR 
AND  PEACE),  parodied  in 

8.  The  Morose  and  Churlish:     Leroy  (Janvier, 
LES  APPELEURS). 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  185 

9.  The     Harsh     and     Resolute:     Stockmann 
(ENEMY  OF  THE  PEOPLE),  Burrhus  (BRITANNICUS) , 
Michael   Angelo;   comic:     William   Thornwill   in 
THE  VICAR  OF  WAKEFIELD.    Neither  6,  7  nor  8 
has  good  feminine  examples,  nor  has 

10.  The    Sarcastic:     Mauly    in    THE    PLAIN 
DEALER  (Wycherly).     Thersite  la  Brige,  in  Court- 
eline,  leads  to 

11.  The    Litigious:     Lanternois    and    Chiqui- 
noux  in  PANTAGRUEL,  Protais  (Mickiewicz,  THAD- 
DEUS  SOPLITZA);  the  Countess  de  Pimbeche  (LES 
PLAIDEURS,  Chicane  (LUTRIN). 

12.  Vixens  and  Scolds :  Xantippe;  LaBruyeYe's 
DISAGREEABLE  MAN,  his  BUSYBODY  and  his 
CRABBED  MAN.     In  the  tragic :    Eleanor  of  Acqui- 
taine,  Amate  and  Juno  in  the  ILIAD.     Here  mas- 
culine examples  are  lacking. 

13.  The      Uneven-tempered:     La      Bruyere's 
EUTICHRATE  has  as  yet  no  worthy  feminine.     Nor 
has  the  following: 

14.  The  Headstrong:  L'OPINIONATRE  (Brueys), 
nor 

15.  THE  SINGULAR  MAN  (Balzac). 

NEPTUNE 

I  —  THE  GREEDY  AND  AVARICIOUS 
1.     The    Selfish:     Dr.    Halpersohn    (Balzac), 
Madame  Kriwdine   (Mowinsky,  THE   BLOWS  OF 


186  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

FATE).  More  dramatic:  Klechtch  (Gorki,  THE 
LOWER  DEPTHS),  Madame  Ambroise  (Decameron 
VIII,  1). 

2.  The  Covetous:     Louise  of  Savoy,  MANETTE 
SALOMON  (Goncourt) ;  Remonencq  (COUSIN  PONS). 
Comic:  the  Fish- vendors  of  the   Greek  drama, 
Rabelais'  Dindenault. 

3.  Speculators,  Stock-jobbers,  etc.:  TURCARET, 
MERCADET,      Isidor      Lechat      (Mirbeau,      LES 
AFFAIRES    .     .     .    ),  Saccard  (Zola,  LA  CUR£E, 
L' ARGENT,  etc.     There  are  no  feminine  examples, 
at  least  in  literature.     Nor  are  there  for  the 

4.  Unscrupulous  Rascals:     Kovacs  (Zola,  THE 
LAND),  Prince  Basil  (Tolstoi,  WAR  AND  PEACE). 

5.  The  Criminally  Covetous:    Tarpeia,  Taille- 
fer  in  Balzac,  Buteau  (Zola,  THE  LAND),   Dick 
Hatteraick  (Scott,  GUY  MANNERING).     No  comic 
examples. 

6.  Cajolers    of    Parents    or    Rich    Masters: 
Madame    Massin-Bevrault    (URSULE    MlROUET), 
Francoise    (A    DOUBLE    FAMILY),    Voltore    and 
Corvino  (Ben  Jonson,  VOLPONE). 

7.  Go-betweens   and   Procurers:    the   Lenons 
of  the  Greco-Latin  stage,  Kaled  (Chamfort,  THE 
SLAVE-DEALER),    Bordenave    (Zola,    NANA), 
MADAME  CARDINAL  (Halevy),  MACETTE  (Regnier). 

8.  Keepers  of  Gaming  Houses:    Feminine  ex- 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  187 

amples  are  wanting  in  literature.  Masculine: 
the  Croupier  in  THE  EARTHEN  CHARIOT  (Sudraka), 
Lie-chi-ki-ouen  (THE  STORY  OF  THE  RIVER  BANKS). 

9.  Keepers    of    Opium    Dens:     One   feminine 
example    in    THE    MYSTERY   OP    EDWIN    DROOD 
(Dickens). 

10.  Saloon-keepers :    No  thorough  study  as  yet. 

11.  Usurers:    Madame  la  Ressource  (Regnard, 
LE    JOUEUR),    poorly    counterbalances    GOBSECK 
and  his  twelve  rivals  of  THE  HUMAN  COMEDY, 
Shylock,  Barrabas  THE  JEW  OF  MALTA  (Marlowe). 

12.  Misers:    Harpagon  follows  old  precedents ; 
Euclion    (Plautus,   AULULARIA),    Isaac   of  York 
Tragic:     Koujin  the   Chinese   MISER,    GRANDET. 
Feminine  examples,   either  tragic  or  comic,   are 
mediocre. 

13.  Luxurious    Misers:    the    Baroness   in    LE 
CHEVALIER  A  LA  MODE. 

II  —  THE  DESPOTIC 

1.  Domestic  Despots:  GRANDET,  whom  we 
have  just  noted  in  his  principal  aspect  under 
Misers;  the  president  Walter  (Schiller,  CABAL 
AND  LOVE),  Commander  Siesi  (Butti,  THE  TEM- 
PEST), Sorel  (Stendhal,  LE  ROUGE  ET  LE  NOIR); 
Madame  Josserand  (POT-BOUILLE),  Mistress  Otter 
(Ben  Jonson,  EPICOENE). 


188  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

2.  Imperious    Despots:     TURANDOT    (Gozzi), 
SAINT-CENDRE  (Maindron). 

3.  Tyrannical    Subordinates:      Gessler    (WIL- 
LIAM TELL),   Galerius   (THE   MARTYRS),   Wolsey 
(Calderon,    THE   SCHISM   OF   ENGLAND),   Haman 
(ESTHER).     Comic:     LE    COMMISSAIRE    and    LE 
GENDARME  of  Courteline;  no  feminine  examples. 

4.  Tyrannical  and  Lustful  Subordinates:    the 
Commissaire    (Mirbeau,    LE    PORTEFEUILLE),    LE 
BON  JUGE  (Brisson).     Tragic:    Appius  Claudius 
of  the  innumerable  VIRGINIAS,  Giannetino  Doria 
(Schiller,  FlESCO).     No  feminine  examples  in  lit. 
erature. 

5.  Despotic     and     Fanatical      Subordinates: 
Angelique  Arnauld;  Saul  (the  future  St.  Paul). 

6.  Fanatical  and  Intolerant  Tyrants:    Cather- 
ine  de   Medicis    (Marlowe,    THE   MASSACRE   AT 
PARIS),  Pentheus  (Euripides,  BACCHAE),  Philip  II 
in  score  of  plays. 

7.  Tyrants:     Catherine  de  Medicis  after  Bal- 
zac, who  paints  her  #s  shrewd  and  unbelieving, 
ATHALIE,  Cleopatra  (RODOGUNE);  Bone  in  BAR- 
BARA   RADZIWILL,    CAMBYSES    (Preston),    Atar 
(Beaumarchais,    TARARE),    Grimoald    (Corneille, 
PERTHARITE),  Al-Hassan  (LALLA  ROOKH),  Diocle- 
tian   (Rotrou,    SAINT-GENEST),    Creon    in    the 
Tragics,    ATTILA    (Herbert,     Corneille,    Werner, 
Bornier),  TAMERLANE  (Marlowe),  Napoleon. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  189 

8.  Pitiless  Parents:  Acrisius,  Orchame,  Echete, 
etc.     No  good  feminine  examples. 

9.  Evil  Geniuses:    monsters:    Satan,  Ahriman 
and  other  synonyms,  Adamastor  (LUSIADE),  Poly- 
phemus (ODYSSEY),  Polemos  (Aristophanes,  THE 
PEACE),  the  CYCLOPS  (Euripides),  the  Old  Man 
of    the    Dovre    (PEER    GYNT);    ogres:     Morgane 
(THE  LOVE  OF  THE  THREE  ORANGES),  L'lNTRUSE, 
Death  in  the  DANSES  MACABRES. 

10.  Base  Despots:     Menelaus  after  Euripides, 
Phocas  (Corneille,  HERACLIUS).     Comic:     Rabe- 
lais'   Grippeminaud.     Feminine    examples    are 
lacking.      % 

11.  Voluptuous     Tyrants;     SEMIRAMIS     (Cre- 
billon),  Catherine  II,  Christina  of  Sweden;  Nero, 
Tiberius,  Henry  VIII.     See  also  the  Vicious  under 
Venus. 

Ill  —  THE  AMBITIOUS 

1.  Ordinary  Ambition :  Few  women:  Madame 
Rogron  (Balzac,  PIERRETTE);  masculine:    Rastig- 
nac,   THEONAS   (La  Bruyere),   EUGENE  ROUGON 
(Zola).     No  comic  examples. 

2.  The    Ambitious    Troubled    in     Mind,    or 
Already   Guilty:     Comic:    Jules   H£niot    (Fdvre, 
LES  BEAUX  MARIAGES),  Morin  (Janvier,  PRES- 
TIGE).    Tragic:     Mouzon    (Brieux,    THE    RED 


190  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

ROBE),  Henri  Mauperin  (the  Goncourts),  LlU- 
THONG-PIN.  No  feminine  examples  either  comic 
or  tragic. 

3.  Presumptuous  Ambition:    a  comic  example 
may  be  found  in  Perrault's  SOUHAITS  RIDICULES; 
tragic:     Maurice    Leon   in   LE    LlVRE   DU   PETIT 
GENDELETTRE.     Feminine    examples    might    be 
found  among  our  modern  poetesses  and  artists. 

4.  Forceful  Ambition:    Solness  THE  MASTER 
BUILDER  (Ibsen),  BORIS  GODOUNOPF  (Pushkin), 
CAESAR  (Plutarch,  Mommsen). 

5.  Hard  Ambition:     Caesar  in  Lucan's  PHAR- 
SALIA,  Jean  de  Giscale,  Napoleon  (P.  Adam,  LA 
FORCE);  Mesdames  Thuillier  and  Camusotet  de 
Lenoncourt  in  Balzac  are  very  inferior. 

6.  Unbecoming    Ambition:     the    Byzantine 
Placidia;   Caesar   after   Suetonius,   Shakespeare's 
HENRY  IV. 

7.  Infatuated  by  Ambition:     LA  MONTESPAN 
(Rolland);  Julien  Sorel  (LE  ROUGE  ET  LE  NOIR), 
Ruggero  Flamma  (d'Annunzio,  LA  GLORIA). 

8.  Murderers   through  Ambition:     MACBETH, 
KING  JOHN,  Knut  the  Great,  the  uncle  of  HAMLET; 
Agrippina,  Lady  Macbeth,  Tullia  the  parricide. 

9.  Vague  Comic  Ambitions:     JEROME   PATU- 
ROT,  —  a  general  parody  of  this  class. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  191 

MINERVA 
I  —  THE  DARING  AND  ROMANTIC 

1.  Daring  by  Circumstance:     Imogene  (CYM- 
BELINE),  Helena  (ALL'S  WELL  THAT  ENDS  WELL), 
our  Henri  IV. 

2.  Greatly  Daring  Men:     Hannibal,  SERTOR- 
IUS   (Corneille),   David,   Cyrus,   Ulysses,   Waina- 
moinen  in  the  KALEVALA;  no  feminine  equivalents. 

3.  Conspirators:     Mile  de  Cinq-Cygne  (Balzac, 
A  DARK  AFFAIR),  Procida   (Delavigne,  SICILIAN 
VESPERS).     Comic:     Lysistrata    and    Praxagora 
(Aristophanes,   ASSEMBLY    OF    WOMEN),    Gavard 
(Zola,   VENTflE  DE   PARIS),   the  pharmacist  Don 
Franco  (Verga,  I  MALAVOGLIA). 

4.  Daring    Conquerors:     Charles    VIII,     the 
young  Cyrus  of  the  ANABASIS,  Brutus,  legendary 
founder  of  England  (THE  BRUT)  and  other  great 
colonizers,  Dardanus,  etc. 

5.  Knightly   Adventurers:     LOHENGRIN,    Per- 
seus,   St.    George,    AMADIS,    ANTAR    the    Arab, 
EVIRADNUS  (Hugo),  HUON  (Wieland).     A  parody: 
DON    QUIXOTE.     Feminine:    the    Valkyrie,    THE 
AMAZONS  (Mazel),  Jeanne  d'Arc. 

6.  The   Chevaleresque :     tragic:     ALEXANDRE- 
LE-GRAND  (Racine) ,  the  hideous  and  good  Tchang- 
KOUE  (THE  VICTORY  OVER  DEMONS),  La  Fayette. 
Comic:     Pickwick  (Dickens)  and  Mattheus  (Erck- 


192  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

mann-Chatrian)    belong   rather   to   the   Utopian 
type  of  Apollo. 

7.  Explorers:     Christopher  Columbus,  Living- 
stone, Marco  Polo,  the  Conquist adores,  the  heroes 
of  Jules  Verne;  Lady  Hester  Stanhope,  Madame 
Dieulafoy,  etc.,  are  inferior.     In  the  comic  there 
are  only  masculine  examples:     GULLIVER,  PETER 
WILKINS. 

8.  Travellers:     comic:     CAPTAIN    PAMPHILE 
(Dumas),   Evelpide   (Aristophanes,   THE  BIRDS); 
tragic:     ROBINSON   CRUSOE,   JAMBULE,   Nauplius 
(Sophocles,    THE   NAVIGATIONS),    Sindbad,   WIL- 
HELM  MEISTER. 

9.  The  Curious  and  Imprudent:     Psyche,  Eve, 
Pandora,    Elsa    (LOHENGRIN),    Bluebeard's    wife 
and,  in  the  comic,  Schirina  (Gozzi,  TURANDOT) 
and    L'lNDISCRETE     (Destouches).     Masculine, 
tragic:    Actaeon;  comic:    LE  CURIEUX  IMPERTI- 
NENT (Destouches). 

10.  The   Romantic:    Jehan   de   Paris,   Prince 
Rodolphe    (Sue,    THE    MYSTERIES    OF    PARIS), 
Valentin    (Sandeau,     LA    CHASSE     'AU     ROMAN); 
feminine,    tragic:     Ellida   THE    LADY   FROM   THE 
SEA  (Ibsen),  Bettina  von  Arnim;  no  good  comic 
examples. 

11.  Daring    in    Love:     MADEMOISELLE    DE 
MAUPIN    (Gautier),    CAPTAIN    THERESE    (Bisson 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  193 

and  Planquette),  LA  CAVALIERE  (Jacques  Riche- 
pin),  Jessica  in  THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE. 
There  are  no  strictly  corresponding  masculine 
types;  they  oscillate  between  11  and 

12.  The  Daring  by  Nature:  D'Artagnan  and 
other  heroes  of  cloak  and  sword;  Hilda  in  THE 
MASTER  BUILDER. 

II  —ADVENTURERS 

1.  Adventurers    Painted    by    their    Enemies: 
the  Conquistadores,  Routiers,  etc. 

2.  Adventurers  by  Nature:     GIL  BLAS,  DON 
PABLO  DE  SEGOVIA. 

3.  Corsairs,    etc.:    JEAN-BART    (Haraucourt) , 
CAPTAIN  PAUL   (Dumas),   Duryodhana   (MAHAB- 
HARATA),  Roger  de  Flor,  the  CONDOTTIERI. 

4.  False    Pretenders:     Demetrius     (Schiller, 
Pushkin),  the  heroes  of  THE  IMPERIAL  DRAGON 
(Judith  Gautier),   the  false  Smerdis,   Naundorff. 
No  feminine  examples. 

5.  Criminal  Adventurers:     Buridan  (LA  TOUR 
DE  NESLE),  Cartouche,  MOLL  FLANDERS,  (Defoe); 
comic:     Don  Caesar  de  Bazan  (RUY  BLAS). 

6.  Mysterious  Strangers:  THE  FLYING  DUTCH- 
MAN, the  Stranger  in  THE  LADY  FROM  THE  SEA 
(Ibsen),   the   Byronic   heroes,    THE   BLUE   BIRD. 
No  feminine  examples. 


194  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

7.  Intellectual  Adventurers:    Benvenuto  Cel- 
lini,  Beaumarchais,   Villon,   the   Trouvdres.     No 
feminine  examples. 

8.  Plotters:     Therese   Humbert,   LA  FEMME 
D'INTRIGUES   (Dancourt),   the    Countess   in    DER 

GROSSKOPHTA  (Goethe);  VOLPONE,  ROBERT  MA- 
CAIRE,  ZYGMUNT  PODFILIPSKI  (Wissenhoff). 

9.  Occultists:     THE  ALCHEMIST  (Ben  Jonson), 
DER   GROSSKOPHTA    (Goethe),    Chaff ery    (Wells, 
LOVE  AND  MR.  LEWISHAM),  Dousterwivel  (Scott, 
THE  ANTIQUARY) ;  Mile  Lenormand,  Madame  Fon- 
taine (THE  HUMAN  COMEDY). 

10.  Tragic  Sorcerers:    the  heroes  of  LE  LAC 
NOIR  (Bordeaux);  LA  SORCIERE  and  other  repug- 
nant criminals. 

11.  Liars:     LE    MENTEUR    (Corneille),    MON- 
SIEUR  DE    CRAC    (Harleville).     No    good    tragic 
masculine    examples;    no    good    comic    feminine 
examples.     A  sad  feminine  example  is  LA  MEN- 
TEUSE  (Daudet). 

Ill  —  THE  ELOQUENT 

1.  Imaginative  Story-tellers:     Ulysses   (ODYS- 
SEY), the  Hindu  Vampire  of  the  25  TALES  OF  THE 
VAMPIRE;   Scheherezade.     Tragic:    the   Author 

.     of  the  Parables. 

2.  The  Loquacious:     Oriane  and  Elise  (Bour- 
sault,  MERCURE  GALANT);  the  Marquis  in  THE 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  195 

COUNTRY  HOUSE  (Dancourt),  Dinacion  (Plautus, 
STICHUS). 

3.  Fluent    and    Ready    Talkers:     MADAME 
ANGOT,  MADAME  SANS-GENE  (Sardou);  Molidre's 
Dorine  and  Martine.     No  symmetric  masculine 
examples. 

4.  The     Garrulous:    Milpertius     (Flers     and 
Caillavet,  LE  SIRE  DE  VERGY).     No  notable  fem- 
inine examples. 

5.  The  Witty:     Mercutio,  Benedict;  Rosalind, 
Beatrice. 

6.  Jesters  and  Banterers:    Regnard's  Marine 
and  Lisette  (LA  SERENADE,  LE  DISTRAIT),  Baron's 
Marton     tmd     Marion      (THE     JEALOUS,      THE 

COQUETTE  and  THE  SHAM  PRUDE)  ;  the  Satirics. 

7.  Mystificators       and       Mockers:     Panurge 
(PANTAGRUEL),   Cabrion    (MYSTERIES  OF  PARIS), 
Truewit  (Ben  Jonson,  (EPICOENE).     Few  women. 

8.  Brazen    Boasters:     Cleon    (Aristophanes, 
THE  KNIGHTS),   NUMA  ROUMESTAN   (Daudet), 
RABAGAS  (Sardou).     No  good  feminine  examples. 

9.  The  Eloquent:    John  Chrysostom,  a  greater 
than  Demosthenes  and  Pericles.     Feminine  reduc- 
tions:    Portia    (MERCHANT   OF   VENICE),    Sophia 
(Beaumont  and  Fletcher,   THE  LITTLE  FRENCH 
LAWYER). 

10.  Adventurers   Luring   and   Misleading   by 


196  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

their  Language :  Bassanio,  Lemminkainen  (KALE- 
VALA) ;  few  women. 

VENUS 

> 

I  —  THE  SEDUCTIVE  AND  SEDUCING 

1.  Seductive    and    Persuasive    Talkers:     Lei- 
cester (Schiller,  MARY  STUART). 

2.  Seduction  and  Base  Conduct :  IRIS  (Pinero) ; 
Paris  (ILIAD),  Egisthus  in  the  Tragics,  Mahomet 
(Lope,  CONQUEST  OP  GRANADA),  Leon  (MADAME 
BOVARY).     Comic:    Agathon  (Aristophanes,  THE 
FEASTS  OF  CERES  AND  PROSERPINE);  no  similar 
satire  in  the  feminine. 

3.  Ingenuous  Impurity:    Cherubin  (MARRIAGE 

OF  FIGARO),  TOM  JONES  (Fielding),  LE  PETIT  AMI 
(Leautaud);  Nicette  (LA  CHERCHEUSE  D'ESPRIT, 
Favart). 

4.  Lofty  Allurement:    Aspasia,  the  future  St. 
Aglae  of  THE  MARTYRS,  Beatrice,  Laura;  St.  John 
the  Evangelist. 

5.  The    Pretentious:     MADAME    GlBOU    and 
various  "snobs." 

6.  Tender    Coquetry:    Anne    the    wigmaker 
(LUTRIN),    Criseis    (Regnard,    DEMOCRITE).     No 
masculine  examples. 

7.  Coquettes  in  Love:     Titania  (MIDSUMMER 
NIGHT'S    DREAM),    Pyrrha    (DEUCALION    AND 
PYRRHA,    St.    Foix),    the    Countess    (Marivaux, 


197 

SURPRISES  OF  LOVE);  masculine:  Aubert  (Adam 
de  la  Halle,  LE  JEU  DU  BERGER  ET  DE  LA  BERGERE), 
RoySre  (Bernstein,  JOUJOU),  CLAVIGO  (Goethe). 

8.  Coquettes   par   excellence:    LA  VIE   DE 
MARIANNE  (Marivaux);  the  symmetric  masculine 
would  necessarily  be  ridiculous. 

9.  Fickle   Triflers:     The   traditional   Marquis 
of  repertoire  has  no  tragic  side.     Comic  feminine 
examples:     Madame   de   Plouah    (Donnay,    LA 
BASCULE);    tragic:     Ida    de    Barancy    (Daudet, 
JACK),  Marie-Louise  (Pouvillon,  LE  ROI  DE  ROME) 
and  Rostand  (L'AlGLON). 

10.  The  Immodest  and  Provocative:    Rosette 
(Gautier,  MLLE  DE  MAUPINJ,  many  heroines  of 
Boccacio.    A  symmetric  masculine  is  Butti's  Aldo 
(THE  PATH  OF  PLEASURE). 

11.  Great    Seducers:     Don    Juan    (Tirso    de 
Molina  and  two  score  authors  of  various  lands), 
Lavedan's  MARQUIS  DE  PRIOLA;  Celimdne,  Laura 
(Lope  de  Vega,  The  Mill),  Cleopatra,  the  Queen 
of  Sheba  (Flaubert,  Salomon). 

12.  Fops   and   Coxcombs:    Armado    (Shakes- 
peare, LOVE'S  LABOR  LOST),  Kalb  (Schiller,  CABAL 
AND    LOVE),    Dorante    (Regnard,    AlTENDEZ-MOI 
SOUS  L'ORME).     Who  can  say  that  no  feminine 
cases  are  to  be  found? 

13.  Fatal  Seductions:    Helen  (ILIAD),  Mohini- 
Maia    (BHAGAVAD-GITA) ,     Delilah,    CARMEN,    LA 


198     THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

GlOCONDA  (d'Annunzio).  A  single  masculine 
example,  which,  on  the  contrary,  is  comic:  the 
admirable  SATYROS  of  Goethe. 

14.  Machiavellian  Seducers:  Lovelace,  THE 
LIBERTINE,  Lou-tchai-long;  VlTTORIA  COROMBONA 
(Webster),  the  Princess  d'Eboli  (Schiller,  DON 
CARLOS),  Adelaide  (Goethe,  GOETZ). 

II  —  COURTESANS 

1.  Cold  and  Selfish:   Sidonie,  FROMONT  JUNIOR 
AND   RlSLER   SENIOR    (Daudet),  MADAME   LUPAR 
(Lemonnier),   Ellen   (Tolstoi,   WAR  AND  PEACE). 

2.  Dangerous  and  Perfidious:     Madame  Mar- 
neffe    (COUSIN   BETTE),   Euphrasie    (THE   MAGIC 
SKIN);    masculine:     Jupillon    (GERMINIE    LACER- 
TEAUX). 

3.  Hypocritical  Parasitic  Men:    ANDRfi  TOUR- 
ETTE  (Muhlfield),  BEL  AMI  (Maupassant). 

4.  Profligate  Girls :  Dol  Common  (Ben  Jonson, 
THE  ALCHEMIST),  Anitra  (PEER  GYNT),  Toudou 
of  the  Turkish  theatre;  tragic:    SALOME   (Oscar 
Wilde),    Kundry    (PARSIFAL),    Circe    (ODYSSEY), 
Armide  (JERUSALEM  DELIVERED). 

5.  Powerful  Courtesans:     MADAME  DU  BARRY 
(Belasco),    Comnena    (d'Annunzio,    LA    GLORIA), 

NANA.  Comic:  THE  GIRL  FROM  MAXIM'S 
(Feydeau);  masculine:  the  academician  Alain 
Valran  (Berton,  LA  MARCHE  A  L'ETOILE) ;  tragic: 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  199 

Fabriani  (MARIE  TUDOR),  Gaveston  (Marlowe, 
EDWARD  II).  A  higher  type:  Madame  de 
Pompadour. 

6.  Courtesans  of  Antiquity:    the  Bacchae,  etc., 
or,  in  the  Orient,  the  Princesses  of  Love  (Judith 
Gautier)  are  related  to 

7.  Humble,  Tender  or  Innocent  Girls:     Mas- 
lova  (Tolstoi,  RESURRECTION),  Sonia  (Dostoievsky, 
CRIME  AND  PUNISHMENT),  Petite-Secousse  (Barres, 
THE  GARDEN  OF  BERENICE). 

8.  Amorous  Courtesans:    Esther  van  Gobseck 
(HUMAN  COMEDY),  Goncourt's  ELIZA,  the  cour- 
tesan in  THE  EARTHEN  CHARIOT  (Sudraka). 

9.  Affectionate  Girls:    Riquette  (Meilhac  and 
Halevy,     MY    COUSIN),     THE    LITTLE     DUCHESS 
(Temens),  NELLY  ROZIER  (Bilhaud  and  Henne- 
quin). 

Ill  —  THE  Vicious 

1.  The  Inhumanly  Vicious:     Pasiphae,  Stellius, 
Aristonyme  of  Ephesus  (Plutarch,  PARALLELS  OF 
HISTORY,  an  apocryphal  work). 

2.  The  Infatuated:     ANTONY  AND  CLEOPATRA 
(Shakespeare),    the    hero    of    VOLUPTE    (Sainte- 
Beuve),  Frantz  in  GOETZ  VON  BERLICHINGEN. 

3.  Gross    Libertines:     Catherine    II,    George 
Sand,   Serenissime,   ABBE   PROUT   (Ranson),   the 
Turkish  Karaghuez,  Priapus,  etc. 


200  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

4.  Mature    Sensualists:      Lycemon    (Longus, 
DAPHNIS  AND  CHLOE),  THE  DUENNA  (Sheridan), 
Lady  Bellaston  (Fielding,  TOM  JONES),  Marceline 
(MARRIAGE  OF  FIGARO),  Hulot  (COUSIN  BETTE), 

Muff  at  (NANA). 

5.  The   Disgraced  and   Degraded:     Chevalier 
des    Grieux    (MANON    LESCAUT),    ROLLA,   TANN- 
HAUSER. 

6.  Cruel  Debauchees:     Nero,  Gilles  de  Retz, 
Marquis  de  Sade,  etc.;  LUCRECE  BORGIA  (Hugo). 

7.  The    Insatiable:     Messalina,    ISABEL    OF 
BAVARIA  (Dumas),  THEODORA. 

8.  Perfidious  Debauchees:     Nicele,  Potiphar's 
wife   (Lope,   LABORS  OF  JACOB),  Anne   (Maeter- 
linck,   PRINCESS   MALEINE),   PHAEDRA;   Streck- 
mann  (Hauptmann,  ROSE  BERNDT). 

9.  Impious  Debauchees:     Madame  de  Chante- 
louve  (Huysmans,  LA-BAS);  masculine  examples, 
such  as  the  wicked  Monks  of  the  fables,  are  all 
comic. 

10.  Pedantic    Debauchees:     Dr.    Pangloss 
(CANDIDE),   ARISTOTE   and   VlRGILE   in   the   two 
mediaeval  Lays. 

11.  The  Abnormal:    VAUTRIN  (Balzac),  Jupi- 
ter   (Marlowe,    DlDO),    EDWARD    II    (Marlowe); 
comic:     THE    CYCLOPS    (Euripides);    feminine: 
Paquita  Valdes  (Balzac),  MLLE  DE  MAUPIN,  etc. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  201 

12.  Morphomaniacs        and        Opium-eaters: 
Marthe  (Luguet  and  Lauras,  LA  PlQURE),  LELIE 
(Willy). 

13.  Masochists     and     other     Bizarre     Cases: 
NINI  L'ASSOMMEUR  (Maurice  Bernhardt),  Albert 
(MLLE  DE  MAUPIN). 

APOLLO 
I— THE  IMPASSIONED 

1 .  Hysterical  Temperaments :  Adelaide  Fouque 
(Zola,    Fortune    of    THE    ROUGONS),    GERMINIE 
LACERTEUX  (Goncourt) ;  LE  POSSEDE  (Lemonnier). 

2.  The  Incestuous:     MYRRHA  (Alfieri);  Giov- 
anni (Ford,  'TIS  PITY    .     .     .     ),  Cenci  (Shelley) 
Antiochus  (Shakespeare,  PERICLES). 

3.  Adulterers:     THERESE      RAQUIN       (Zola), 
Clytemnestra  (Aeschylus,  AGAMEMNON). 

4.  Impassioned  Prof aners  of  Religion :   Marthe 
Rougon    (Zola,    CONQUETE   DE    PLASSANS),    Hen- 
riette  (Ancey,  CES  MESSIEURS),  Luther,  etc. 

5.  Generous  Sacrifices  of  Love:  Fersen  (Lenoir 
and    Lavedan,    VARENNES),    Lord    Grenville    (A 
WOMAN  OF  THIRTY),  THE  SORCERESS  (Sardou), 
MADAME  DE  SOMMERVILLE  (Sandeau). 

6.  Brisk  Gallants:     Henri  IV.     No  symmetric 
feminine. 


202  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

7.  Noble    Hearts:     TARARE    (Beaumarchais), 
(Severus    (POLYEUCTE),    Nearchus    (Ford,    THE 

BROKEN  HEART),  Tancred  (JERUSALEM  DELIV- 
ERED), Max  (Schiller,  WALLENSTEIN) ;  Minna  von 
Barnhelm  (Lessing).  In  comedy:  Annette  (Mow- 
insky,  BLOWS  OF  FATE),  Ferdinand  (Shakespeare, 
THE  TEMPEST)  Tchao-ju-tcheou  (THE  PEAR- 
BLOSSOM,  and  the  majority  of  the  classic  "JEUNES 
PREMIERS,"  — a  trifle  vague,  to  be  sure. 

8.  Sinners    Redeemed    by    Love:     MARION 
DELORME,  CAMILLE,  Lady  Milford  (Schiller,  CABAL 
AND  LOVE).     No  exact  masculine  equivalents. 

9.  Unfortunate  in  their  Loves:     Isis   (Flau- 
bert,  TEMPTATION  OP  ST.  ANTHONY),   Heloise; 

Hialmar  (PRINCESS  MALEINE),  APOLLO— which 
is  remarkable  —  in  all  his  amours. 

10.  Proscribed  Lovers:    RHADAMISTE  (Crebil- 
lon),  Almachilde  (Alfieri,  ROSAMONDE),  HERNANI; 
none  feminine. 

11.  Forsaken  or  Forlorn  Lovers:     GRAZIELLA, 
DIDO,    Balzac's  ARIANE,  Viola    (Shakespeare, 
TWELFTH  NIGHT);  Antiochus  (BERENICE). 

12.  Lovers  of  Married  Women,  not  less  Unfor- 
tunate:   WERTHER,  ANTONY,  TRISTAN,  PELLEAS. 
No  good  feminine  equivalents. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  203 

II — THE  CHIMERICAL  AND  ILL-FATED 

1.  Vowed   to   Unhappiness   for   the    Sake   of 
Love:     Camille    (HORACE),    PRINCESS    MALEINE 
(Maeterlinck,  DUCHESS  D'AMALFl) ;  Lope,  Webster, 
Bandello  and  others. 

2.  Shamed  by  their  Children:     Priam  (ILIAD), 
HECUBA  (Euripides). 

3.  Victims:     Cassandra  (Aeschylus,  AGAMEM- 
NON),   KING   LEAR,   the   old   Moor  in   Schiller's 
ROBBERS,  CEDIPUS  AT  COLONUS,  the  little  Prince 
of   Wales   in   Shakespeare's   RICHARD    III,    TlN- 
TAGILES  (Maeterlinck),  Arthur  (KING  JOHN);  see 
others  among  the  Weak  under  Diana. 

4.  The  Sorrowful :  THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE, 
Louis  XIII,  Madame  du  Deffant. 

5.  Victims   of  Courts:    Lesurques    (COURRIER 
DE  LYON),  etc. 

6.  The    Morbidly    Scrupulous:       HEAUTONTI- 
MORUMENOS    (Terence).     Feminine    cases,    tragic 
cases  and  modern  cases  are  lacking. 

7.  Vanquished       by       Weakness:    ARMANCE 
(Stendhal),    Leonard    (LUSIADS).     No    feminine 
examples. 

8.  Tormented  by  an  Obligatory  Crime:     ORES- 
TES, IDOMENEUS,  JEPHTE. 

9.  Consequences    of    an    Involuntary    Sin: 
Jocasta'  (CEDIPUS  THE   KING),   Manuel   (Schiller, 
THE  BRIDE  OF  MESSINA). 


204  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

10.  Remorse:     MANFRED,    Amfortas    (PARSI- 
FAL) ;  no  feminine  example. 

11.  Vanquished  by  Misery  or  Social  Injustice: 
Gervaise   (L'ASSOMMOIR),   La  Bruydre's  ORONTE; 
the  Morels  in  THE  MYSTERIES  OF  PARIS,  PHIL- 
OCTETES. 

12.  Pessimists:   Buddha,  ST.  JOSAPHAT,  TlMON 
OF  ATHENS  (Shakespeare),  Athos  (THREE  MUSKE- 
TEERS),   Schopenhauer.     No    good    feminine  ex- 
amples. 

13.  The  Unlucky:     Comic:       CRAINQUEBILLE 
(Anatole  France) ,  and  the  hero  of  LE  PORTEFEUILLE 
(Mirbeau).     Tragic:    JACK  (Daudet),  RUY  BLAS; 
Fantine  in  LES  MlSERABLES. 

14.  Stricken  by  Madness:   HERCULES  FURENS, 

ATHAMAS,  PENTHEUS,  AJAX,  Charles  VI;  Ophelia, 
Gretchen,  ALICE  (Bulwer-Lytton). 

15.  The  Eccentric  and  Insane:    the  characters 
of  Hoffman;  few  feminine  cases. 

16.  Chimerical    Lovers:     MODESTE    MlGNON, 
MADAME  BOVARY,  Mile  de  la  Motte  (Stendhal, 
LE  ROUGE  ET  LE  NOIR),  the  Troubadours  of  LA 

PRINCESSE  LOINTAINE  (Rostand).    Comic:     LES 
ROMANESQUES  (Rostand),  the  Count  in  THADDEUS 

SOPLITZA,  Andrason  (Goethe,  DER  TRIUMPH  DER 

EMPFINDSAMKEIT). 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  206 

17.  Superstitious  but  not  Religious:    Matthew 
Nikititch  in  RESURRECTION.     There  are  no  good 
literary  studies. 

18.  Utopians:     Olga   Kroutchinine   (Bariatin- 
sky,   THE  SAND   BANKS),   Catherine   Theot,   the 
Gnostics,  Comtean  Positivists,  Fourrierists,  Esper- 
antists,  etc.;  Sir  Politic  Would-be  (Ben  Jonson). 

19.  Sincere  Occultists:    Julie  (St.  Foix,  THE 
SYLPH),  FRUITS  of  CULTURE  (Tolstoi),  all  comic. 

20.  Cnimerical  Philosophers:     Socrates  (Aris- 
tophanes, THE  CLOUDS),  Louis  LAMBERT.    No 
women. 

21.  Collectors  and  Statisticians:  COUSIN  PONS, 
SYLVESTRE  BONNARD  (France);  no  good  feminine 
examples. 

Ill  —  THE  INTELLECTUAL 

1.  Savants:  Oldbuck  THE  ANTIQUARY  (Scott) ; 
Madame  Dacier.     Pedants:     Madame  du  Chate- 
let;    MARGITES,    Zoile    and    his    follower    Wolff, 
Lessing's  YOUNG   SCHOLAR,    Begriffenfeld    (PEER 
GYNT),  Rondibilis  (PANTAGRUEL) . 

2.  Sham  Savants:     Clarice  (Gozzi,  LOVES  of 
THE  THREE  ORANGES),   Square   (TOM  JONES). 
See  also,  under  Neptune,  Emperor  Claude,  Chil- 
peric,  etc. 


206 

3.  Pretentious  Patrons  of  the  Arts:     Laurent 
(Lavedan,  THE  MEDICIS);  feminine  examples  are 
lacking. 

4.  Enthusiastic  Dilettantes:   Maecenas,  Prince 
Touan   (STORY  OF  THE  RIVER  BANKS),  Louis  II 
of  Bavaria.     In  literature,  no  feminine  examples; 
in  history:    Elizabeth,  Christina,  our  Countess  of 
Beam. 

5.  Theorists   of   Art:      Paolo    Gambara   and 
Garangeot    (HUMAN    COMEDY)  might    also    be 
classed  with  either  3  or  4.     No  feminine  examples. 

6.  Pedantic  Scribblers:    THE  BLUE-STOCKINGS 
(Byron);  THE  SYMBOLIST  (Kozlowski),  the  Scholar 
Limousin  (PANTAGRUEL),  d'Argenson  (JACK). 

7.  Professional  Pedants:    our  CORDONS  BLEUS; 
the  Cooks  of  Greco-Latin  comedy,  the  Utopian 
pedicure    Publicola    Masson    (HUMAN    COMEDY), 
Daudet's  Delobelle. 

8.  Sham  Intellectuals:     LES  PRfcCIEUSES  RIDI- 
CULES,  FEMMES   SAVANTES;    Oronte  in  THE 
MISANTHROPE. 

9.  Intellectual   Natures:      the  young  Pascal, 
the  Breton  Jean  Conan;  Madame  Leprince  (LES 
EMPLOYES);  comic:    PECUCHET. 

10.  Fatal  Intellectuality:  REMBRANDT  (Dumur 
and  Josz),   Poe,   La  Bruyere's  ANTISTHENE  and 
THfeOBALDE,  TASSO  (Goethe). 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  207 

11.    Heroes   of   an   Idea:    CORINNE   (Stael), 
Marie  Bashkirtseff,  Flaubert,  Palissy. 

MERCURY 
I  —  THE  SHREWD 

1.  Physical  Adroitness:    Arachne;  no  literary 
examples  in  the  feminine.     Hamouman  (RAMAY- 
ANA),  Puck  (MIDSUMMER  NIGHT'S  DREAM),  Passe- 
partout (Verne,  AROUND  THE  WORLD  IN  EIGHTY 

DAYS). 

2.  Valets  or  Slaves:    Grotesque:   JODELET,  the 
Shakespearean  Clowns,  the  Graciosos ;  no  feminine 
examples.     Sly:    Scapin,  Face  (Ben  Jonson,  THE 
ALCHEMIST)  ;  our  soubrettes. 

3.  Mental  adroitness:     Rebecca  (Lope,  Story 
of  Jacob  and  Esau);  Saccard  (Zola,  LA  CUREE), 
SHERLOCK    HOLMES,    Rastignac    and    Desroches 
(THE  HUMAN  COMEDY). 

4.  The    Subtle:       Claude    Vignon    (HUMAN 
COMEDY),    Renan,    Sainte-Beuve ;   no   very  good 
feminine  examples  in  literature. 

5.  Wise    Diplomats:     Acomat    (BAJAZET) ; 
Madame  de  Lausac  (Balzac,  LA  PAIX  DU  MENAGE), 
Anne  de  ^eaujeu. 

6.  Keen  Diplomats:  Antonio  (Goethe,  TASSO). 

7.  Odious    Diplomats:       Felix    (POLYEUCTE), 
Metternich  (Rostand,  L'AlGLON),  d'Albe  (Schiller, 
DON  CARLOS),  Talleyrand. 


208  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

8.  The  Witty  and  Adaptable:   Beaumarchais ; 
LYSISTRATA. 

9.  Flattering    Demagogues:       Cleon    (THE 
KNIGHTS). 

10.  Courtiers:     Commines  (Delavigne,  LOUIS 
XI),  THfiODOTE  (La  Bruydre),  Agaz  in  the  Persian 
romance  of  AGAZ  AND  MAHMOUD,  THE  FLATTERER 
(J.  B.  Rousseau).     Not  a  feminine  example. 

1 1 .  Too  Crafty  Counsellors :     PHAEDRA ;  Carlos 
(Goethe,  ClAVIGO). 

12.  The  Cunning:   Madame  Bordin  (BOUVARD 
AND  PECUCHET) ;  the  elder  Fourchon  (Balzac,  THE 
PEASANTS),  the  Host  in  THE  MERRY  WIVES  OF 
WINDSOR. 

13.  The    Insinuating:    Anna    Mikhailovna 
(Tolstoi,  WAR  AND  PEACE) ;  the  Lupeaulx  nephews 
(THE  HUMAN  COMEDY). 

14.  Deceivers  and  Cheats:  Philip  (DECAMERON 
VII,  5),  the  REYNARD  of  ^Esop  and  La  Fontaine, 
the  Jackal  of  the  PANCATANTRA. 

15.  The  Artful:    Melitta  (Wildmann,  DAUGH- 
TERS OF  LYSANDER),  the  Buddhist  nun  in  AGNI- 
MITRA  AND   MALAVIKA   (Kalidasa) ;   Chilon    (Quo 
Vadis?),  Bdelycleon  (Aristophanes,  THE  WASPS), 
the   vagabond    Diccon    in    GAMMER    GURTON'S 

NEEDLE. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  209 

16.  The  Unscrupulous:  Monticelse  (Webster, 
VlTTORIA  COROMBONA),  LOUIS  XI  (Mercier, 
Delavigne,  Paul  Fort),  Frederick  the  Great, 
Tamerlane;  in  the  feminine,  but  one  aspect  of 
Catherine  de  Medicis. 

II  —  THE  TRAITOROUS 

1.  Informers:     .      .      .      . 

2.  Spies    (more    honorable,    on    the    whole): 
Corentin,    Bibi-Lupin,    etc.     (HUMAN    COMEDY); 
Mile  Michonneau  (from  Balzac  also). 

3.  Spies  of  War:    Sinon,  etc. 

4.  Traitors  through  Cupidity:    Pylis  of  Troy; 
Tarpeia,    Eriphyle,    Delilah.     No    good    literary 
studies  in  the  masculine. 

5.  Treachery    of    Mean    Natures:       Pierrotin 
(the  little  valet  of  Dassoucy);  no  good  feminine 
examples. 

6.  Traitors  from  Jealousy  or  Scorned  Love: 
Rosalie  de  Watteville  (Balzac,  ALBERT  SAVARUS), 
Eriphile  (Iphigenie);  Don  Salluste   (RUY  BLAS), 
Laffemas     (MARION     DELORME),    Pharnaces 
(MlTHRIDATE). 

7.  Revengeful  Treachery:   Guanhumara  (BUR- 
GRAVES),    Ithamore    (Marlowe,    THE    JEW    OF 

MALTA),  lago  (OTHELLO). 

8.  "Third  Roles"  in  general:  Feminine,  tragic: 
Matrena    (THE    POWER    OF    DARKNESS);    comic: 


210  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

SmeraJdine  (Gozzi,  THE  GREEN  BIRD),  Tartagliona 
(Gozzi,  LOVES  OF  THE  THREE  ORANGES).  Mascu- 
line, tragic:  Begearss  (Beaumarchais,  THE  GUILTY 
MOTHER),  Catual  (Camoens,  THE  LUSIADS), 
Philippe-le-Bel,  lachimo  (CYMBELINE),  Ganelon 
(CHANSON  DE  ROLAND),  Narcisse  (BRITANNICUS) , 
Valin  (RAMAYANA)  ...  I  may  be  excused 
for  not  lingering  over  the  nuances  of  this  repug- 
nant collection. 

9.  Traitors  to  Love:    the  Wife  of  Bisclavaret 
(Marie   de   France),    Delilah   already   cited;    LE 
VAINQUEUR  (Brahm). 

10.  Ingrates:    THE  INGRATE  (Destouches),  the 
minister  Rassati-Rouchen  (Bokhari,  THE  CROWN 
OF  KINGS);  see  others  under  Ceres. 

11.  Betrayers  of  Friends  or  Brothers:    Salieri 
(MOZART  AND  SALIERI,   Pushkin),   Judas,   Franz 
Moor    (Schiller,    THE    ROBBERS),    Piccolomini 

WALLENSTEIN),  Polymnestor  (HECUBA);  no  good 
feminine  examples. 

12.  The    Envious:       Tcheladin    (Wenzyk, 
GLINSKI),    Mortensgaard    (Ibsen,  ROSMERSHOLM) ; 
comic:       L'ENVIEUX    (Destouches).     No    good 
feminine  examples. 

Ill  —  THE  KNAVISH 

1.     Evil   Speakers  and  Backbiters:      Madame 
Popinot   (THE  HUMAN  COMEDY),   De  Chandour, 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  211 

also  from  Balzac,  Thersites  (Homer  and  Shakes- 
peare), Palinure  (Plautus,  THE  WEEVIL). 

2.  Calumniators:     Basile  (Beaumarchais),  Don 
Mendo  (Alarcon,  WALLS  HAVE  EARS),  our  official 
historians,  etc.     Almost  no  feminine  examples. 

3.  Degraded  by  Cupidity:  Li-chi  (THE  ENEMY 
CREDITOR),    Cibot    (COUSIN    PONS);    Truffaldin 

(Gozzi,  TURANDOT). 

4.  The  Base  and  Mean:    Jenkinson  (VICAR  OF 
WAKEFIELD). 

5.  The  Sinister:     Europe  (HUMAN  COMEDY), 

Tristan  (Delavigne,  LOUIS  XI). 

6.  Knaves:     MOLL    FLANDERS;    Gabrillon 
(Dancourt,   FEMME  D'   INTRIGUES),  Agavos  after 
Homer;   tragic:     Jacqueline   Collin    (HUMAN 
COMEDY). 

7.  Daring  Rogues  (see  also  Minerva):    Tchin- 
khi  (THE  ACCOMPLISHED  WIFE),  Don  Gabriel  de 
Herrera  (Tirso,  THE  PEASANT  OF  VALLECAS). 

JUPITER 
I  —  THE  ARROGANT  AND  INSOLENT 

1.  Parvenus:  the  SANNIONS  (La  Bruyere), 
LE  BOURGEOIS  GENTILHOMME,  Trimalcion  (SATYRI- 
CON),  Crevel  and  Phileas  Beauvisage  in  THE 
HUMAN  COMEDY;  Zanthia  (Massinger,  THE  SLAVE). 


212  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

The   feminine   parvenue   has   been   insufficiently 
studied. 

2.  Pedants   (the  parvenus  of  the  intellectual 
life):    our  sham  scientists,  our  "philosophers"  of 
the    18th   century,  —  which   produced   neither   a 
Descartes  nor  a  Malebranche. 

3.  The  Impious:     FAUST  (Lenau),  LUCIFERO 
(Butti)   Campaneus   (Aeschylus,  SEVEN  AGAINST 
THEBES),    Pentheus    (Euripides,    BACCHAE).     No 
feminine  examples. 

4.  Vanity  of  Connections:     Deborah   (VlCAR 
OF  WAKEFIELD),  Madame  Muller  (Shiller,  CABAL 
AND  LOVE). 

5.  Naive  Insolence:     ERGASTI  (La  Bruyere), 
THE  CHURL  (Plautus). 

6.  Insolent  Beggars:     Irus  (ODYSSEY). 

7.  The  Haughty  and  Harsh :  Herodiade,  Vashti, 
(ESTHER),  Madame  de  Montespan  (Nota,  DUCHESS 
DE  LA  VALLI£RE),  Honoria  (Massinger,  THE  POR- 
TRAIT), Edward  III  (Belloy,  THE  BURGHERS  OF 
CALAIS),    Diocletian    (Massinger,    THE    VIRGIN 

MARTYR)  ,Viriate  (SERTORIUS). 

8.  The  Proud:      Niobe,   Dryden's  Indamora, 
Almeria    and    Lyndaraxa    (AURENG-ZEB,    THE 

EMPEROR  OF  INDIA,  THE  CONQUEST  OF  GRANADA), 

Diana  de  Belflor  (Lope,  THE  GARDENER'S  DOG), 
the  Empress-mother  in  Werner's  ATTILA,  Paulo 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  213 

(Tirso,  DAMNED  FOR  LACK  OP  FAITH),  Bertrand 
de  Rousillon  (Boccacio,  DECAMERON  II,  8)  Shakes- 
peare, ALL'S  WELL  THAT  ENDS  WELL),  GLINSKI 
(Wenzyk). 

9.  The  Vain:     Smeraldine  (Gozzi,  THE  STAG 
KING),  Lisette  de  Caquerino  (DECAMERON  IV,  2). 

10.  Exaggerated  Pretensions:     CESAR  BlROT- 
TEAU,    Fungoso    (Ben   Jonson,    EVERY   MAN   HIS 

HUMOUR),  THE  FROG  WHO  WOULD  IMITATE  THE 

Ox.     No  feminine  examples. 

11.  Vain  Imitators:     THE  JAY  IN  PEACOCK'S 
PLUMAGE.     Too  few  examples. 

12.  The    Self-important:       Mistress    Western 
(TOM  JONES),  JOSEPH   PRUDHOMME  (Monnier), 
Worms-Clavelin    (Anatole     France),    De     Renal 
(Stendhal,   LE   ROUGE   ET  LE   NOIR),    MONSIEUR 
CARDINAL  (Halevy),  De  Faverges  (BOUVARD  AND 

PECUCHET). 

II.— THE  HAUGHTY  AND  DIGNIFIED 

1.  Haughty  by  Nature:    Duchess  de  Verneuil 
(Balzac,     MODESTE     MlGNON) ;    CORIOLANUS 
(Plutarch,  Shakespeare). 

2.  The    Haughty    and    Ambitious:       JULIUS 
CAESAR    (Shakespeare) ;    SURENA    (Corneille), 
Honorie  (Corneille,  ATTILA),  Zenobia. 

3.  Sorrowful    Pride:       Calantha    (Ford,    THE 


214      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

BROKEN  HEART),  Cleora  (Massinger,  THE  SLAVE), 
Marie  Antoinette  before  the  tribunal. 

4.  Lofty   Dignity:      Cornelia,   mother  of  the 
Gracchi;  LE  PHILOSOPHE  SANS  LE  SAVOIR. 

5.  Sham  Distinction:      Raoula   (Nau,   FORCE 
ENNEMl).     See  the  Pretentious  under  Venus. 

6.  Old   Beaux  of  Fine   Manners:      Vigneraie 
(Regnier,    LES    VACANCES    D'UN    JEUNE    HOMME 
SAGE).     See  Venus. 

7.  See  others  of  the  Proud  under  Mars. 

Ill  —  THE  MAJESTIC  AND  PROTECTING 

1.  Royal   Protectors:      Ahasuerus    (ESTHER), 
Saladin  (DECAMERON  I,  3),  Theseus  of  the  Greek 
Tragics  and  his  son  Demiphon  (Euripides,  HERA- 
CLIDES),  Pelasgos  (Aeschylus,  THE  SUPPLIANTS), 
Arthur    (LAI   DE    LANVAL).     No    great   feminine 
examples. 

2.  Severe  Majesty:     WALLENSTEIN  (Schiller), 
Don  Pedro   (Calderon,   THREE  PUNISHMENTS  IN 
ONE). 

3.  Scorned    and    Buffeted    Majesty:       Noble 
(REYNARD). 

4.  Majestic  by  Nature:    the  supreme  Gods  of 
all  the  religions,  and  their  maritime  counterparts, 
Neptune    (^ENEID),    ^Eolus    (ODYSSEY),    Noah   or 
the  king-patriarch  of  the  Chaldeans,  Assyrians, 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  215 

Chinese,  Armenians,  Iranians,  Hindus,  Germans, 
Scandinavians,  Arabs,  etc.,  under  his  many  names, 
Moses,  Pythagoras  (Mazel,  ARCHYTAS  DE  META- 
PONTE),  Vasco  de  Gama  (LUSIADS);  no  feminine 
examples. 

5.  Lofty  Bearing:     QUEEN  OF  THE  OCCIDENT 
(Chinese),   Constantin   (THE  MARTYRS),  Goethe, 
Chateaubriand. 

6.  The    Venerable:       Dhiritarastra    (MAHAB- 
HARATA),  Charles-Quint  (Werner,  LUTHER),  Mar- 
quis de  Nangis  and  Monsieur  de  St.  Vallier  (Hugo, 
MARION  DELORME,  LE  Roi  S'AMUSE). 

7.  The  Calm:     Madame  Hedouin  (Zola,  POT- 
BOUILLE),  the  family  aspect  of  Madame  Lupar 
(Lemonnier);  WILLIAM  TELL  (Schiller). 

8.  The  Merciful:   No  feminine  examples.  Mas- 
culine:    August  (ClNNA),  Joseph  (Lope,  LABORS 

OF  JACOB). 

9.  Generous  Tenderness :  Stratonica  (Plutarch, 
GENEROUS  ACTS  OF  WOMEN),  Sarah  in  the  Bible; 
no  masculine  examples. 

10.  The       Hospitable:      Thespius,       Acestes 
GENEID),  Alcinous  (ODYSSEY). 

11.  Protectors:  the  Manitous,  Fetiches,  Lares. 
Modern  allegorical  figures  (Republic,  Fatherland, 
Agriculture,  Hygiene,  etc.).     Countess  Mathilde, 
benefactress  of  the  Papacy;  Lord  Chang  (Pl-PA-Kl). 


216  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

12.  Protection  by  the  Weak:  the  aged  Kin-lao 
(STORY  OF  THE  RIVER  BANKS) .     No  great  feminine 
examples. 

13.  See   others  under  the   Chevaleresques  of 
Minerva. 

CERES 

I  —  THE  GENEROUS  AND  PRODIGAL 

1.  Benevolent  Good-nature:      Madame  Hans 
(THE  ACCOMPLISHED  SOUBRETTE)  ;  Hannon,  Peri- 
plectomenes,   Lysimachus  and  Hegion   (Plautus, 
THE  CARTHAGINIAN,  THE  BRAGGART  SOLDIER, 
THE  MERCHANT,  THE  CAPTIVES),  ABB£  CON- 

STANTIN  (Halevy). 

2.  The  Charitable:     Saints  by  the  hundred, 
Bhima  (MAHABHARATA),  Squire  AUworthy  (TOM 
JONES),  Omar  Abd-el-Aziz  (Bokhari,  THE  CROWN 
OF  KINGS),  Tchang-touan  (THE  JADE  SCEPTER); 
Madame   de   la   Chantrie    (Balzac,    THE   OTHER 
SIDE  OF  CONTEMPORARY  HISTORY). 

3.  The  Generous:   Ceres ;  Aristeus  (GEORGICS) . 

4.  The    Liberal:    PLUTUS    (Aristophanes); 
Lakchmi  (BHAGAVAD-GITA) . 

5.  The  Sumptuous:  Haroun-al-Raschid  (THOU- 
SAND   AND    ONE    NIGHTS),    Hatim-tsai    (KlTAB- 

ADAB  ES  SELATHIN),  JEAN  DE  PARIS. 

6.  The  Ostentatious:     Few  women;  possibly 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  217 

La    Bruyere's    ZENOBIE;    his    MAN    OF    STRANGE 
COSTUMES,   Brussac    (Capus,   LA  BOURSE   OU  LA 

VIE). 

7.  The  Prodigal:     Madame  Ranevsky  (Chek- 
hov, THE  CHERRY  ORCHARD),   ^Esop's  GRASS- 
HOPPER, La  Bruydre's  EGINE;  Cleante  (Molidre, 
THE    MISER),    Phidippides    (Aristophanes,    THE 
CLOUDS). 

8.  Gamesters:     The  heroines  of  Dancourt;  LE 
JOUEUR    (Regnard),     Sacco     (Fiesco).     Tragic: 
several  in   THE   LAND   OF   COCKAIGNE    (Serao), 
Diard  (THE  HUMAN  COMEDY),  Yudhistira  (MAHAB- 
HARATA). 

II  —  THE  GAY  AND  SENSUAL 

1.  The  Gay:   THE  MERRY  WIVES  OF  WINDSOR, 
Baubo,    Mistress    Waters    (TOM   JONES),    Roger 
Bontemps,  LE  ROI  D'YVETOT,  FANFAN-LA-TULIPE. 

2.  Optimists:     BASILIDE   (La  Bruyere),   THE 
OPTIMIST  (Collin  d'Harleville).     No  notable  fem- 
inine cases. 

3.  Quiet  Epicureans:    Helvetius;  no  women. 

4.  Bohemians:       Jerome    Coignard    (Anatole 
France,  AT  THE  SIGN  OF  THE  REINE  PEDAUQUE), 

THE  CHEVALIER  DE  GRAMMONT  (Hamilton),  the 

heroes  of  Murger,  Jean  Frollo  (NOTRE-DAME  DE 
PARIS),  Ha-fei-kinh  (THE  GAGE  OF  LOVE),  Giboyer 
(LES  EFFRONTES).  No  feminine  examples. 


218  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

5.  Buffoons:   the  Fool  in  KING  LEAR,  Karpin- 
dala  (Rajacekhara, KARPAMANJARI),  Wamba (Scott, 
IVANHOE),  Sancho  Panza,  KARADSCHOUSCHE  the 
Turkish  hump-back,  the  Graciosos,  Tabarin;  no 
good  feminine  examples. 

6.  Kindly  Old  People:  Dicepolis  (Aristophanes, 
THE    BIRDS),    Calliphon    (Plautus,    PSEUDOLUS), 
Chremes    and    Micion    (Terence,    HAUTONTIMO- 
RUMENOS,  THE  ADELPHI),  Lovewit  (Ben  Jonson, 
THE  ALCHEMIST);  few  feminine  examples. 

7.  Jovial   Drunkards:      Pleydell   (Scott,   GUY 
MANNERING),  Bardolph  and  Sir  Toby  in  Shakes- 
peare,  Gnafron    of  the    puppet-theatre,    Silenus 
(Euripides,    CYCLOPS) ;   the   Bacchantes,    Anais 
(Berton  and  Simon,  ZAZA),  Aunt  Caroline  (Man- 
delstamm,  SUSANNAH). 

8.  Estimable  Drunkards:    DON  PIER  CARUSO 
(Bracco). 

9.  Degraded  by  Drunkenness:     Victorine  the 
ragpicker  (Balzac,  COMTE  DE  SALLENEUVE),  and 
Victoria  the  queen;  Eilert  Lovborg,  Molvik  and 
Ulric  Brendel  (Ibsen,  HEDDA  GABLER,  THE  WILD 
DUCK   and    ROSMERSHOLM)    the    Baron   in    THE 

LOWER  DEPTHS  (Gorki),  THEAGENE  and  THEODAS 
(La  BruyeYe),  Santeul,  Coupeau  (Zola,  L'ASSOM- 
MOffi). 

10.  Sinister  Drunkards:   Emperor  Wenceslaus, 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  219 

Emeric  Baracs  (Geza  Gardenyi,  THE  WINE), 
Macquart  (Zola,  THE  FORTUNE  OF  THE  ROUGONS), 
Agave  (Euripides,  BACCHANTES). 

11.  Drunken  Rogues:  Vermichel  (Balzac,  THE 
PEASANTS),    Champagne   (Regnard,    THE    SERE- 
NADE) ;  feminine  examples  are  wanting. 

12.  Gluttons:   Gargamelle    (Rabelais),  various 
Ogresses  (notably  the  stepmother  of  THE  SLEEP- 
ING BEAUTY),  GARGANTUA,  Falstaff  (HENRY  IV, 
HENRY  VI,  MERRY  WIVES  OF  WINDSOR),  the 
antique    Hercules    and     Mercury  s,    HANSWURST 
(Goethe),  Vitellius. 

13.  Gourmands  and  Epicures:   Brillat-Savarin, 
Rossini,  HERMIPPE  and  PHILIPPE  (La  Bruydre). 
No  feminine  examples. 

14.  Parasites:        COUSIN    PONS    (the    unique 
sympathetic  case),  the  Greek,  Latin  and  Hindu 
parasites,    notably    in    THE    EARTHEN    CHARIOT, 
Italians  like  Chiaco  in  the  DECAMERON   (IV,  8) 
and   Frenchmen   like   Des   Rillettes    (Courteline, 
THE  BOWLING-GREEN). 

Ill  —  THE  VULGAR  AND  PRACTICAL 

1.  The  Lazy:    MONSIEUR  BADIN  (Courteline); 
no  fetninine  examples. 

2.  Egoists:    Madame  de  Grignan  and  a  num- 
ber   of   the    MONDAINES     of    Balzac     (Baronnes 
d'Aldrigger   and   du   Chatelet,    Countess   de   St. 


220      THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Herem,  etc.);  the  husband  in  Mirbeau's  VlEUX 
MENAGE,  Berg  (Tolstoi,  WAR  AND  PEACE),  GNA- 
THON,  the  opulent  GlTON  and  the  intestate 
GERONTE  (La  Bruyere). 

3.  The  Too  Prudent:  Chrysothemis  (Sophocles, 
ANTIGONE). 

4.  The    Pusillanimous:       Prusias    (Corneille, 
NlCOMEDE),  Drances  (^ENEID),  said  to  be  a  por- 
trait   of    Cicero.     Comic:       Chrysale    (FEMMES 
SAVANTES) ;  Lepic  (J.  Renard,  POIL  DECAROTTE). 
No  feminine  examples. 

5.  The  Craven:    Calyphas  (Marlowe,  TAMER- 
LANE).   Very  few  good  studies. 

6.  Comic  Poltroons:    One  side  of  Falstaff  and 
of  the   Greek  Hermes,   Dionysos   (Aristophanes, 
THE  FROGS),  John  Daw  (Ben  Jonson,  EPICOENE). 

7.  Moral  Cowardice:  Monsieur  Lupar  (Lemon- 
nier,    MADAME    LUPAR).     No   good  feminine  ex- 
amples. 

8.  The  Rustic  and  Simple:    the  comic  Nurses 
(ROMEO,  THE  LITTLE  FRENCH  LAWYER),  mas- 
seuses, etc. 

9.  The    Vulgar-souled:    Madame    Lechat 
(Mirbeau,   LES  AFFAIRES     .      .      .     ),    ARTISTS' 
WIVES  (Daudet).     Masculine  examples  are  gayer: 
Baron    le    Cogne    (Monjoyeux)    corresponding 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  221 

rather    to    Ursule    (CESAR    BlROTTEAU),    or    to 
Mesdames  Verson  and  Lupin,  also  from  Balzac. 

10.  The  Squalid  and  Dirty:  Agatha  Picquetard 
(HUMAN    COMEDY),    the    Slave    in    THE    CHAIN 
(Menander),  Dulcinea  del  Toboso  (DON  QUIXOTE), 
the  Marquis  de  Senantes  (Hamilton,  MEMOIRS  OF 
THE     CHEVALIER     DE     GRAMMONT),     Gryllus 

(ODYSSEY). 

11.  The  Stupid:    Catoblepas  (Flaubert,  TEMP- 
TATION OF  ST.  ANTHONY).    Almost  no  good  lit- 
erary studies  as  yet. 

12.  Good  Sense:     Sarcey,  Boileau,  etc. 

13.  Vulgar      Common     Sense:     Don     Paolo 
(Bracco,  THE  TRIUMPH),  BOUVARD  (Flaubert). 

VULCAN 
I  —  THE  EARNEST  AND  SERIOUS 

1.  Narrow  Professionals:     Duchess  d'Olivares 
(DON  CARLOS)   and  other  duennas   (RUY  BLAS, 
HERNANI  etc.) ;  the  prefect  Julien  Brignac  (Brieux, 
MATERNITY),  J  a  vert   (LES  MISERABLES),   Fix 
(AROUND  THE  WORLD  IN  EIGHTY  DAYS),  our 
categorical    "scientific   minds,"    Bridoie    (PANTA- 
GRUEL>. 

2.  The  Clumsy  and  Awkward:    Vanidre  (THE 
MAGIC  SKIN);  Clotilde  de  Grandlieu  (SPLENDORS 

AND  MISERIES  OF  COURTESANS).    Comic:  our  old 


222  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

men  on  bicycles;  the  American  woman  in  JE  NE 
SAIS  QUOI  (Croisset  and  Waleffe),  and  our  pro- 
vincials aping  Parisians. 

3.  The  Resigned  and  Stoical :   Zeno,  Epictetus, 
Job,     Aritchandra,     Hector     (Hiade),     Curiace 
(HORACE),   Oliver  (CHANSON  DE  ROLAND),  Jean 
(Zola,  THE  DOWNFALL),  Eustache  de  St.  Pierre 
(Belloy,  BURGHERS  OF  CALAIS),  the  ascetics;  St. 
Felicite,  the  mother  of  the  Maccabees,  Epicharis, 
Le6na,   Veturia.     No  good  literary  examples  in 
the  feminine. 

4.  The  Just  and  Upright:     Vera  (RESURREC- 
TION), few  other  feminine  examples;  Bayard  in 
GASTON  AND  BAYARD  (Belloy),  the  ugly  Don 

Juan  (Alarcon,  WALLS  HAVE  EARS),  Godfrey  de 
Bouillon  (JERUSALEM  DELIVERED),  Lakchmana 
(RAMAYANA). 

5.  The  Honest  and  Straightforward:   Cornelia, 
mother    of    VlTTORIA    COROMBONA    (Webster); 
Abner   (ATHALIE),  the  peasant  SlE-JIN-KOUEI,   a 
score  of  fine  figures  in  THE  HUMAN  COMEDY,  not 
long  since  taxed  with  immorality,  Muller  (Schiller, 
CABAL  AND  LOVE),   Thomas  Mowbray   (Shakes- 
peare,  RICHARD  II),   BENOIT   (AND  BENOITE, 
Haraucourt).     Comic:   the  Spartans  of  the  Greek 
stage,  our  Alsatians. 

6.  The  Inflexible:    the  honest  and  fierce  Lise 
Macquart  of  the  VENTRE  DE  PARIS  (Zola),  the 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  223 

elder  Brutus,  Timoleon  (Massinger,  THE  SLAVE). 
See  also  the  Just  under  Juno. 

7.  The  Austere  and  Correct:  Bronte  (d'Annun- 
zio,  LA  GLORIA),  Casca  (JULIUS  CAESAR).     Fewer 
and  fewer  feminine  examples. 

8.  The  Grave  and  Laborious:    RUTH,  Martha 
in  the  Gospels,  Denise  (Zola,  L'OEUVRE),  Giotto 
as    drawn    by    Boccacio    (DECAMERON    VI,    5), 
Demosthenes. 

9.  The    Pious    and    Honorable:       Mesdames 
Vaillant  and  Mathurine  in  Balzac;  his  Jean- Jules 
Popinot,  Washington,  Louis  XVI,  Kruger. 

10.  Laborious  Enthusiasts:     Flaubert. 

11.  The    Physically    Strong,    often    Weak   in 
Character:    Hercules,    INGOMAR   THE    BARBARIAN 
(Halm),    Pierre    (Tolstoi,    WAR    AND    PEACE), 
Samson,    Ursus    (QUO   VADIS?).     No   very   good 
feminine  examples. 

II  —  THE  DELUDED  AND  DISCOURAGED 

1.  The   Weak:      Pierre    (Tolstoi,    POWER   OF 
DARKNESS),  DRAYMAN  HENSCHEL  (Hauptmann). 
No  goc^d  feminine  examples. 

2.  The    Forgiving:    Richard    (Daudet,    THE 
LITTLE    PARISH),    Maurice    Darlay    (Capus    and 
Arene,  THE  ADVERSARY):  comic:     BOUBOUROCHE 
(Courteline).     No  notable  feminine  examples. 


224  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

3.  Victims  of  Perfidy:  Alessandro  Faro  (Praga, 
ALLELUIA),  Risler  in  FROMONT  JUNIOR  AND  RISLER 
SENIOR    (Daudet),    Count    de    Restaud    (Balzac, 
GOBSECK,  OLD  GORIOT),  BISCLAVARET  (Marie  de 
France). 

4.  The   Unloved:      larbas   (Marlowe,    DIDO), 
De  Granville  (HUMAN  COMEDY),  MISS  HARRIETT 
(Maupassant). 

5.  Ridiculous  Young  Wooers:   the  Bridegroom 
in  PEER  GYNT,  De  Leon  (Madame  du  Deffand) . 

6.  Ridiculous    Old    Wooers:       Don    Guritan 
(RUY  BLAS),  Des  Soupirs  and  Cheurpied   (Dan- 
court,   COQUETTES'   SUMMER),   Ferdinand    (Bour- 

sault,  THE  LIVING  CORPSE). 

7.  The    Deceived:    Chaumette    (Marcelle 
Tinayre,  THE  STORM  BIRD),  Theseus  (PHAEDRA); 
Marie  Leczinska. 

8.  Deceived  and  Unlucky;      the  Freethinker 
in    THE    TWO    CONSCIENCES    (Anthelme),    the 
Governor  (Benavente,  LA  GOBERNADORA). 

9.  Deceived   but   Repellant:      Marie-Ther£se 
(Rolland,  LA  MONTESPAN). 

10.  Deceived  Philosophers:    Thoas,  Laertes. 

11.  Cuckolds:  Dandin,  Charles  Bovary,  Mene- 
laus  (Shakespeare,  TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA) ,  Amphi- 
tryon (Plautus,  Moliere,  Dryden),  Marcus  Aure- 
lius.     No  good  feminine  types. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  225 

12.  The  Flouted   and   Derided:      Strepsiades 
(Aristophanes,  THE  CLOUDS),  the  People  (Aristo- 
phanes,  THE   KNIGHTS),   Bruin  in   REYNARD, 
"initiates"  into  secret  societies. 

13.  Hypochondriacs:   THE  IMAGINARY  INVALID 
(Moliere),  THE  HYPOCHONDRIAC  (J.  B.  Rousseau), 
Morose    (Ben    Jonson,    EPICOENE),    IRENE    (La 
Bruyere) . 

14.  The    Ingenuous,    more   touching,    will   be 
classed  with  the   Weak  under   Diana,   with   the 
exception  of 

III  —  THE  UNSELFISH  AND  DEVOTED 

1.  The  Ingenuously  Unselfish:    Marion  Kolb 
(LOST  ILLUSIONS)  and  other  old  servants.     Comic : 
Mysis  and  Sophronia  (Terence) ,  Crocotia,  Staphyla 
and    Syra    (Plautus),    Smeraldine    (Gozzi,    THE 
GREEN  BIRD),   Pantalon   (Gozzi,   THE  RAVEN, 

THE  SERPENT  WOMAN),  Parmenon,  Strasime, 
Trachalion,  Stratilex,  Tyndarus,  Messenion,  Gru- 
mon,  Simon  and  Charion  (Plautus),  Geta  (Terence, 
ADELPHI),  Gilotin  (Boileau,  LUTRIN),  Gervais 
(Mickiewicz,  THADDEUS  SOPLITZA). 

2.  purses      and      Foster-fathers:     Masculine, 
comic:     Pantalon;  tragic:     Christemo,  Jonathas 
and  Perez  de  Lagounia  (Balzac,  THE  GIRL  WITH 
GOLDEN  EYES,  THE  MAGIC  SKIN,  THE  MARANAS), 
Chao-Koung  (841  A.  C.)  whose  history  is  repeated 


226  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

in  that  of  Matsuo  in  THE  VILLAGE  SCHOOL  (by 
the  Japanese  Tokido  Izuma).  Feminine:  Bran- 
gaene  (TRISTAN  AND  ISEULT),  Euryclea  (ODYSSEY), 
Euriclea  (Alfieri,  MYRRHA),  Gilissa  (Aeschylus, 
CHOEPHORES).  Lycoris  of  Tarsus  (APOLLONIUS 
OF  TYRE).  And  above  all  these,  St.  Joseph, 
veritable  emblem  of  the  paternity  which  is  not 
physical,  but  an  act  of  faith  and  love. 

3.  Unselfish  Devotion:  the  Moujiks  of  Tolstoi, 
Gurnemanz  and  Kurwenal   (Wagner,   PARSIFAL, 
TRISTAN) ;  Pauline  (Shakespeare,  WINTER'S  TALE), 
Coriola  (Webster,  DUCHESS  OF  AMALFI),  and,  in 
the   comic,    Lisette    (MARIVAUX,    THE   GAME   OF 
LOVE    AND    CHANCE),    Suzanne    (Beaumarchais, 

THE  GUILTY  MOTHER). 

4.  Devotion  to  the  Point  of  Sacrifice:      the 
servant  Keou-tching-yu  (THE  MYSTERIOUS  BOX), 
Manon  Godard  (THE  OTHER  SIDE  OF  CONTEM- 
PORARY HISTORY),   Paolo   (Anne  Radcliffe,   THE 
ITALIAN). 

5.  Devotion  for  Love  of  God:      GENEVIEVE 
(Lamartine),    many   servants   misunderstood   by 
the  masters  who  exploit  and  laugh  at  them,  the 
Sisters  of  Charity,  missionaries,  etc. 

6.  Artful  Devotion:     Francoise  Cochet,  Mes- 
dames  Olivier  and  Gobain  in  THE  HUMAN  COMEDY; 
the  servant  of  Kouo-hoa  in  THE  PLEDGED  SLIPPER. 

7.  Important  Guardians  or  Servitors :  Heimdall 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  227 

standing  on  the  rainbow,  Argus,  Cerberus,  Charon, 
the  Douvalapalaias ;  Iris,  Heve. 

8.  Devotion  Freely  Given:  Kent  (KING  LEAR), 
Achates  (^NEID),  Pisanio  (CYMBELINE),  Barach 
called  Hussan  (Gozzi,  TURANDOT),  Aubrey  (Beau- 
mont and  Fletcher,  ROLLO).     These  border  upon 
Friends  (see  Vesta);  likewise  upon  the  following: 

9.  Devotion  because  of  an  Unrealizable  Love: 
Quasimodo,  Butscha  (MODESTE  MlGNON),  Gran- 
taire    (LES   MlSERABLES);   no   feminine   examples 

which  equal  these. 
i 

10.  Disciples  (see  also  Vesta):    the  Friends  of 

Socrates,  Mile  de  Gournay,  Heloise,  etc. 

11.  Zealots:       Seide    (Voltaire,    MAHOMET), 
Lelius     (Lucan,    PHARSALIA),    Argillan    (Tasso, 
JERUSALEM  DELIVERED),  Ujitomo  in  THE  SHOGUN 

(Japanese),  Ivan  (De  Maistre,  PRISONERS  OF  THE 
CAUCASUS);  the  female  adorers  of  Robespierre. 
Devotion  here  serves  as  a  pretext  for  satisfying 
the  instinct  of  cruelty. 

MARS 
I  —  MURDERERS  AND  ASSASSINS 

1.  «» Hired  Murderers:  Ithamore  (Marlowe, 
THE  JEW  OF  MALTA),  the  Moor  in  FIESCO 
(Schiller),  Gubetta  (Hugo,  LUCRECE  BORGIA), 
Franchissini  (Balzac,  OLD  GORIOT). 


228      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

2.  Bravos   and  Assassins:     the   Scythians  in 
Athens,  Cossacks,  Baxter  (VlCAR  OF  WAKEFIELD), 
etc. 

3.  Poisoners:       the   most    notable    cases    are 
feminine:  the  wife  of  the  poet  Lucretius,  Mesdames 
Lafarge  and  Syveton   (in  the   opinions,  perhaps 
erroneous,  of  their  contemporaries),  La  Brinvilliers, 
Myrille  (Prodrome,  RHODANTHE  AND  DOSICLES). 

4.  Vindictive   Murderers:     Clytemnestra,   the 
Danaides,    Yanetta    (Brieux,    THE   RED    ROBE), 
the  athlete  Cleometes. 

5.  Slayers   of    Children:      Medea,    THYESTES 
(Euripides,  Seneca,  Crebillon,  etc.) 

6.  Fratricides  and  Parricides:    Cain  (GENESIS, 
Byron,    Gessner),    Eteocles   in   a   dozen   famous 
tragedies,  Balthasar  (Verhaeren,  THE  CLOISTER), 
Albert  (Pushkin,  THE  MISER  BARON).     No  great 
feminine  examples. 

7.  Unconscious    Murderers:    Etienne    Lantier 
(Zola,  LA  BfiTE  HUMAINE) ;  the  mythologic  Scylla. 

8.  Cunning  and  Cynical   Murderers:     Joseph 
(Mirbeau,  JOURNAL  D'UNE  FEMME  DE  CHAMBRE), 
Bernadille    (Montfleury,    LA    FEMME    JUGE    ET 

PARTEE).    No  women. 

9.  Murderers  through  Desire  of  Wealth  and 
Advancement:    the  young  Tascheron  (Balzac,  A 
COUNTRY  PARSON) ;  no  feminine  examples. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  229 

10.  Murderous     but      Ridiculous     Brigands: 
Choppart,  called  the  Amiable  (THE  COURIER  OF 
LYONS),  Jean  Hiroux.     No  feminine  examples. 

11.  Sinister  Brigands:    Dubosc   (COURIER    OF 
LYONS),    Pilla    Borsa    (Marlowe,    THE    JEW    OF 
MALTA),     Taillefer     (HUMAN     COMEDY),     Kirata 

(STORY  OF  THE  TEN  CHILDREN,  by  the  Hindu 
Dandin),  Cartouche,  Mandrin;  no  feminine  ex- 
amples. 

12.  Furious    Bandits:       Those   who    subdued 
Hercules,  Antiphates   the   cannibal    (ODYSSEY), 
Bhakas  (MAHABHARATA),  Polyphemus. 

13.  Cold-blooded    Murderers:   M.  Thiers, 
author  of  the  greatest  massacre  in  the  history  of 
civil  wars,  Sylla,  Marius,  etc. 

H  —  THE  VIOLENT  AND  REBELLIOUS 

1.  Rebels  against  the  Law:      THE   ROBBERS 
(Schiller),    Pisander   called   Marullo   THE    SLAVE 
(Massinger),  Enrico  (Tirso  de  Molina,  DAMNED 
FOR  LACK  OF  FAITH),  the  savage  and  edifying 
Eusebio    (Calderon,    DEVOTION   TO   THE    CROSS), 
FRA  DlAVOLO,  Ferrante  Palla  (Stendhal,  CHART- 
REUSE DE  PARME).     No  good  feminine  examples 
of  this  nature. 

2.  The  Brutal  and  Primitive:    Nimrod  (GENE- 
SIS), Matho  (SALAMMB6),  Zamolxis  (Mazel,  ARCH- 

TAS  DE  METAPONTE);  LA  FILLE  SAUVAGE  (Curel). 


230  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

3.  The  Quarrelsome:    Don  Fernand  the  bully, 
the    only    violent    "character"    in    La    Bruydre, 
Bianchi  (Balzac,  THE  MARANAS). 

4.  "Mousquetaires:"       THE    THREE   MUSK- 
ETEERS and  similar  heroes  of  cloak  and  sword. 

5.  Braggarts:     Lamachus  (Aristophanes,  THE 
ACHARNIANS),  the  MILES  GLORIOSUS  of  Plautus, 
Thrason    (Terence,    THE    EUNUCH),    Olibrius    of 
the  MYSTERIES,  the  Rodomont  of  Boiardo  and 
Ariosto.     No  feminine  examples. 

6.  Cruel    Warriors:     Han-yen-tcheo    (THE 

PAGODA  OF  HEAVEN),   Duhcasana   (MAHABHA- 

RATA),  Alarcon  in  JERUSALEM  DELIVERED,  Davout 

(Tolstoi,  WAR  AND  PEACE),  THE  AMAZONS  (Mazel). 

7.  Savage  Hunters:   Nimrod  again,  ST.  JULIAN 
THE  HOSPITALLER  (Flaubert),  the  father  in  THE 
FOSSILS  (Curel),  ESAU  (Jehan  Behourt),  Hippolyte. 

8.  The    Abusive:       Vallenod    (Stendhal,    LE 
ROUGE  ET  LE  NOIR),  our  polemists   who  fancy 
themselves    Juvenals;    the    Elder    Sister    of    the 
fairy  tale,  from  whose  mouth  came  toads. 

9.  The  Uncivil:    THE  PEASANT  (Epicharmus) , 
L'OPINIONATRE    (Brueys) ;   Boileau's    ''BRUSQUE 
IMPERTINENTE"  in  the  SATIRE  ON  WOMEN. 

10.  The  Shrewish  or  Surly :  Marianne  (Grimm, 
THE  COLLIER  OF  CROYDON),  Katherine  (TAMING 

OF   THE    SHREW);    Ajax    (Shakespeare,    TROILUS 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  231 

AND  CRESSIDA),  Cleomachus  and  Antemonides 
(Plautus,  THE  BACCHAE,  THE  CARTHAGINIAN), 
Squire  Western  (TOM  JONES),  Isegrim  (Regard); 
MLLE  FIFI  (Maupassant).  Tragic:  AJAX  (Soph- 
ocles, etc.),  Cloten  (Shakespeare,  CYMBELINE), 
HORACE  (Corneille),  Romulus,  Sigismond  (Cal- 
deron,  LIFE  IS  A  DREAM),  Philippe  Brideau 
(HUMAN  COMEDY),  Caliban  (THE  TEMPEST). 

11.  The  Irascible:     Achilles   (ILIAD),  HAKON 
JARL  (Oehlenschlager). 

12.  Ravishers:    Besides  the  Violators  (Venus), 
the  Turk  Asena,  Agassamenes,  Boreas,  the  Cen- 
taurs, those  "picadors  of  antiquity." 

13.  The  Impulsive:     Mile  Dumesnil;  Varem- 
baud  (Bruyerre,  IN  PEACE). 

14.  Revolutionaries  by   Temperament:      The 
Titans   (Hesiod,  THEOGONY),   DANTON   (Buchner, 
Rolland,  etc.),  our  Communards,  Souvorine  (Zola, 
GERMINAL),  our  anarchists. 

15.  Tyrannicides:      Harmodius,      Aristogiton, 
Caserio;  CHARLOTTE  CORDAY  (Ponsard,  Silvestre, 
etc.).     The  Regicides  might  here  be  added. 

Ill  —  THE  BOLD  AND  FEARLESS 

s 

1.  Heroines  of  Sacred  History:    Jahel,  Judith; 
no  equivalent  masculine  examples. 

2.  Patriot  Heroes:     Jeanne  Hachette,  Clelie, 


232     THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

the  Amazons   of   Dahomey;    NlCOMEDE,    Gustav 
Conrad  (Mickiewicz,  FEAST  OF  THE  DEAD). 

3.  Intrepid    Warriors:       SIEGFRIED,    RHESUS 
(Euripides;  ILIAD),   Richard  Coeur-de-lion,   Hot- 
spur (Shakespeare,  HENRY  IV),  THE  ClD,  CHARLES 
XII,    SlE-JIN-KOUEI    (by   the   courtesan   Tchang- 
koue-pin),  and  all  the  Mars  of  all  the  cults. 

4.  Calm  and  Noble  Courage:    Porus  (Racine, 

ALEXANDRE-LE-GRAND),  Xiphares  (MITHRIDATE). 

5.  Moral  Rebels:    The  Prophets,  St.  John  the 
Baptist;   HEDDA   GABLER    (Ibsen),   RENEE   MAU- 
PERIN  (Goncourt). 

6.  Enthusiasts:    Nicolas  Rostof  (Tolstoi,  WAR 
AND    PEACE),    Silvere    (Zola,    FORTUNE    OF    THE 
ROUGONS). 

7.  Ridiculous  Enthusiasts:      Bambaef   (Tour- 
geneff,  SMOKE). 

8.  The  Generous  and  Honest:     Neoptolemes 
(Sophocles,   PHILOCTETES),   Nemours   (Delavigne, 
LOUIS    XI),    BRITANNICUS,    Seleucus    (Corneille, 
RODOGUNE),    Hemon     (Sophocles,    ANTIGONE), 
Antoninus  (Massinger  and  Dekker,  THE  VIRGIN 

MARTYR). 

9.  Comic  Audacity:     Cecile   (Labiche,   DEUX 
TlMIDES).     No  masculine  examples. 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  233 

DIANA 
I  —  THE  TENDER  AND  SENTIMENTAL 

1.  The  Indiscreetly  Sentimental :  Dona  Leonor 
and     Dona      Mencia      (Calderon),      Dona      Sol 
(HERNANI),    Schiller's    MARY    STUART    and    the 
Queen  in  his  DON  CARLOS,   Madame  de  Renal 
(Stendhal,    LE    ROUGE   ET   LE    NOIR).     No   good 
masculine  examples. 

2.  Easily   Disposed   to   Follow   the   Beloved: 
Abigail  (Marlowe,  THE  JEW  OF  MALTA),  Sieglinde 
(Wagner,    WALKtiRE),    JULIET,    THISBE;    Fan    in 
THE  SACRIFICE  OF  FAN  (Kong-ta-yong),  Calyste 
du  Guenic  (Balzac). 

3.  The  Tender:     Jacqueline  (Marivaux,  SUR- 
PRISES OF  LOVE), Leonie  (Regnard,  THE  SERENADE) 
Glycere  (Alciphron,  EROTIC  LETTERS),  Charlotte 
de    Kergarouet     (Balzac,     BEATRIX),     Lieou-mei 
(Kiao-meng-fou,    THE    GAGE    OF    LOVE),    Ingrid 

(Ibsen,  PEER  GYNT). 

4.  Amorous  Adolescents  and  Children:    PETIT- 
COEUR    (Jean    Viollis),    Georges    (NANA),    Justin 
(MADAME     BOVARY);     Jeannine     (Bataille,     THE 

ENCHANTMENT). 

5.  Passionate   Friendships   of   Childhood   and 
Adolescence:    not  well  studied  as  yet. 

6.  Lover-friends:    Pauline  (THE  MAGIC  SKIN); 
no  good  masculine  equivalents. 


234  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

7.  Pure  Lovers:    Jean-Paul  Richter;  Madame 
R£camier. 

8.  Tender   Visionaries:       Elsa    (LOHENGRIN); 
St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  Frederic  in  Picard's  JERICHO. 

9.  The  Silently  Tender:     Aude  (CHANSON  DE 
ROLAND). 

10.  Tender  Self-sacrifice:   BERENICE   (Racine; 
Corneille),    DUCHESS  DE  LA  VALLIERE    (Bulwer- 
Lytton,  Dumas,  Nota,  etc.);  Attale  (NlCOMEDE). 

11.  Humble  Lovers:    GERTRUDE  (Bouchinot), 
Cecile  (Pharamond,  MONSIEUR  BONNET);  no  cor- 
responding masculine  examples. 

12.  The  Seduced  and  Betrayed:     Fantine  in 
LES  MlSERABLES,  Annette  (Brieux,  MATERNITY), 
Gretchen  (FAUST),  Marie  Beaumarchais  (Goethe, 
CLAVIGO),  Elvira  (DON  JUAN).     Comic:   Molidre's 
Charlotte  and  Mathurine. 

II— THE  WEAK 

1.  Tenderness  to  Terrible  Rivals:   lo  (Aeschy- 
lus,  PROMETHEUS  BOUND),   Atalide   (BAJAZET), 
PRINCESS    MALEINE    (Maeterlinck),   Romilde 
(Alfieri,  ROSAMONDE),  Madame  Elvsted  (HEDDA 
GABLER).     No   entirely  symmetrical   masculine 
examples. 

2.  Beloved      by      Formidable      Men:    Junia 
(BRITANNICUS),   Palmire   (MAHOMET),   Esmeralda 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  235 

(NOTRE-DAME  DE  PARIS),  Fleur-de- Marie  (MYS- 
TERIES OF  PARIS). 

3.  Espoused  by  Imposing   Men:      Zenocrate 
(Marlowe,  TAMERLANE),  Calphurnia  (Shakespeare, 
JULIUS    CAESAR),    Leonora    (FIESCO).     Parodies: 
Madame    Vital     (Balzac,     COMEDIENS    SANS    LE 
SAVOIR),  Gina  (Ibsen,  THE  WILD  DUCK).    Mascu- 
line parodies  would  be  highly  amusing. 

4.  Victims     of     Husbands:     Desdemona 
(OTHELLO)   and,   in   another  nuance,  Jane  Grey 
(Webster    and    Dekker,     SIR    THOMAS    WYAT), 

MADAME  DE  CHAMBLAY  (Dumas),  the  wife  of  the 
Brigand  in  MAROUSSIA  (Stahl).  No  symmetric 
cases  in  the  masculine. 

5.  Persecution  by  Rejected  Suitors:    CLARISSA 
HARLOWE,  the  chaste  Suzanne. 

6.  Pure  and  Gentle  Victims:    Iphigenia  in  a 
dozen  tragedies,  Polyxena  in  as  many  more,  the 
daughter  of  JEPHTHA  (Boyer,  Buchanan) ;  Balder. 

7.  Helpless   Children  or  Young   Girls:      TlN- 
TAGILES,   the   LAMB   of   ^Esop   and    of   Scripture, 
ASTYANAX  in  half  a  dozen   tragedies,   CHILDREN 
OF   EDWARD    (Delavigne),   Arthur    (Shakespeare, 
KJNG   JOHN),    ladjnadatta    (RAMAYANA),   Andro- 
meda. 

8.  Youthful  Victims:  ATYS  (Quinault),  Adonis, 
Hyacinth,  etc. 


236  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

9.  Victims   of   Social    Corruption:      MADAME 
BAPTISTE  (Maupassant). 

10.  Moral  Weakness :  Lisa  Bolkousky  (Tolstoi, 
WAR  AND   PEACE),    Madame   Grandet    (Balzac); 
Wenceslas    Steinbock    (COUSIN    BETTE),    Carlo 
(Praga,  UNDINE),  EDWARD  II  (Marlowe),  RICHARD 
II  (Shakespeare),  Jonathan  (A.  Gide,  SAUL). 

11.  Weak    Parents:       the    Miller    (Pushkin, 
ROUSSALKA),   Juan  Roxo   (Lope  de  Vega,   FON- 
TOVEJUNE). 

12.  The  Shy:    Orlando  (Shakespeare,  As  YOU 
LIKE  IT),  LES  DEUX  TIMIDES  (Labiche). 

13.  The  Hesitant:     L'lRRESOLU  (Destouches), 
L'lRRESOLU  (Berr),  L'lNDECIS  (Fontainas). 

14.  Boobies:    MONSIEUR  MUSARD  (Picard). 

15.  The  Capricious:     Emma  Regoli   (Torelli, 
THE  HUSBANDS),  Angelique  in  ROLAND  FURIEUX; 
THE  INCONSTANT  (Collin  d'Harleville),  PROTEUS 
and  THE  SPOILED  CHILD  (Destouches). 

16.  The  Null  and  Banal:     Many  sketches  in 
THE  HUMAN  COMEDY. 

17.  Weak  in  Mind,  but  nevertheless  superior: 
ALICE  (Bulwer-Lytton) ;  THE  IDIOT  (Dostoievsky). 

18.  Madness:  Ophelia  (HAMLET)  and  Gretchen 
(FAUST),   the  heroes   of   Poe;  comic:    Triboullet 
(PANTAGRUEL),    Androgyne    (Ben    Jonson,    VOL- 
PONE). 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  237 

19.  Artless   Simpletons:      Dame    Pliant   (Ben 
Jonson,  THE  ALCHEMIST),  the  innumerable  Jocris- 
ses  and  Janots,  the  Pierrots,  the  Shakespearean 
Clowns,  Wagner  in  Goethe's  FAUST,  the  sceptic 
Trouillogan  so  well  scouted  by  our  good  Father 
Rabelais,  Voltaire's  CANDIDE,  Han  in  THE  TRANS- 
MIGRATION OF  YO-CHEO,  the  two  Poirets  in  Balzac, 
etc.     We  might  here  distinguish  between  (a)  the 
ordinary    Artless    Simpleton,    (b)    the    Amorous 
Simpleton,  (c)  the  same  married,  before  arriving 
among  the  "Deceived,"  (d)  the  Poltroon,  (e)  the 
Lofty  Simpleton  (bordering  upon  Jupiter),  (f)  the 
Duped  Simpleton,  who  belongs  rather  to  Vulcan. 

20.  The       Heedless       and       Absent-minded: 
MENALQUE  (La  Bruyere),  LE  DISTRAIT  (Regnard), 
the  Monk  with  the  Pot  of  Meal  (PANCATANTRA) . 
No  feminine  examples. 

21.  The  Ingenuously  Sensible:  the  old  Count 
Rostof    in    WAR   AND    PEACE,    LE   JONGLEUR   DE 
NOTRE-DAME.     Comic:    the  old  Pantalon  (Gozzi, 

THE  GREEN  BIRD). 

22.  The  Humble  and  Pathetic:     the  Child  in 
MOTHER  AND  CHILD  (C.  L.  Philippe) ;  CINDERELLA. 

Ill  —  THE  PURE 

s 

1.     Ingenues:     Aminta    (Tirso,    THE    SEDUCER 

OF  SEVILLE),  Aute  (Lope,  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  NEW 
WORLD),  Lelie  (La  Fontaine,  THE  ENCHANTED  CUP. 


238  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

2.  Purity      Despite      Impure     Environment: 
YVETTE   (Maupassant),   seminarists  in  barracks, 
a  potential  poet  in  a  boarding-school,  etc. 

3.  Purity  of  Soul  Despite  Physical  Impurity: 
Sonia  (Dostoievsky,  CRIME  AND  PUNISHMENT). 

4.  Purity  Sweetened  by  Tenderness:  Virginia 
in    PAUL    AND    VIRGINIA,    Cymodocee    in    THE 
MARTYRS,  Miranda  in  THE  TEMPEST,  La  Bruyere's 
ARTEMIRE. 

5.  The  Pure:  ION  (Euripides),  Joas  (ATHALIE), 
Blanche  (Huysmans,  L'OBLAT),  Dom  Marc  (Ver- 
haeren,  THE  CLOISTER). 

6.  The  Simple:     L'lNGENU  (Voltaire),  Friday 
(ROBINSON  CRUSOE). 

7.  The  Upright:    Gennaro  and  Didier  (Hugo, 
LUCRECE  BORGIA,  MARION  DELORME),  Rudenz 
(WILLIAM  TELL),  TELEMAQUE  (Fenelon);  Blanche 
of  Castile,  PIERRETTE  (Balzac),  Isabella  (MEASURE 

FOR  MEASURE). 

8.  The       Chaste:     HlPPOLYTE       (Euripides), 
Joseph   (PARSIFAL),   St.   Alexis,   Daphne,   Tarsia 
(APOLLONIUS  OF  TYRE) ;  Sts.  Catherine  and  Claire, 
and  above  all,  of  course,  the  Virgin  Mother  of 
Christ. 

Ill  —  THE  369  UNPUBLISHED  CHARACTERS 
AND  THEIR  154,980  VARIETIES 

In  the  course  of  the  preceding  classification  I 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  239 

have  noted  the  absence  of  369  species  of  characters 
in  our  literatures.  57  other  species  have  been 
but  little  studied.  Among  these  426  categories, 
309  belong  to  the  feminine,  of  which  155  are 
comic  and  154  tragic.  56  comic  and  61  tragic 
characters  form  the  masculine  contingent.  Of 
these  426  cases,  if  some  are  met  with  in  fiction, 
they  are  wanting  in  drama,  or  vice  versa. 

Now  all,  or  nearly  all,  may  be  multiplied  by 
the  5  principal  ages:  Infancy,  Adolescence, 
Youth,  Maturity,  Old  Age.  It  follows,  in  short, 
that  avarice,  courage,  love,  ambition,  etc.,  create, 
as  I  have  already  said,  types  which  differ  widely 
according  as  these  passions  reign  in  a  child,  in 
an  old  man,  in  an  old  maid,  in  a  young  wife  or 
in  a  middle-aged  man. 

Let  us  take  only  the  369  cases  entirely  unused. 
The  1845  varieties  obtained  by  means  of  this 
multiplication  by  5  will  be  multiplied  in  turn 
by  the  different  social  positions,  for  the  ambition 
of  a  CESAR  BIROTTEAU,  for  example,  shows  neces- 
sarily an  aspect  quite  distinct  from  those  offered 
in  MACBETH,  or  in  a  peasant  anxious  to  extend 
the  boundaries  of  his  field. 

4$ince  we  can  reckon  7  principal  social  classes 
(Royalty,  Aristocracy,  Upper  Middle-class,  Lower 
Middle-class,  Working  Class,  Peasantry  and  Pro- 
letariat) we  have  at  the  least  12,915  unpublished 


240  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

types,  and  this  by  confining  our  multiplication 
to  the  369  cases  entirely  unused.  Let  us  not 
forget  that  not  only  among  the  57  cases  lightly 
touched  upon,  but  likewise  among  the  cases 
already  analyzed  in  literature,  some  of  the  4  or 
5  ages  (especially  Infancy,  Adolescence  and  Old 
Age)  and  of  the  social  ranks  (notably  the  lowest) 
have  been  for  the  most  part  neglected.  So,  after 
a  study  of  -these  new  lacunae,  we  can  carry  our 
figure  of  12,915  to  20,  30  or  40,000. 

Let  us  keep  for  the  present  to  our  12,915.  In 
our  Classification  we  contented  ourselves  with 
subdividing  into  3  each  of  the  12  Divine  Types, 
considering  them  in  relation  to  the  two  sexes,  and 
in  both  a  tragic  and  a  comic  light.  Each  of  these 
sub-types  in  itself  tends  likewise,  in  curious 
fashion,  toward  a  new  duodenary  subdivision: 
the  Pious  offered  us  11  categories,  the  Faithful 
14,  the  Jealous  12,  etc.  And  I  have  rather 
avoided  than  sought  this  perpetual  grouping  of 
the  Dozen,  for  I  wished  to  leave  the  greatest 
possible  elasticity  in  the  meshes  of  the  net  which 
I  was  endeavoring  to  draw  about  Humanity. 

"Very  well,"  it  may  be  said,  "from  your  369 
unused  types  we  see  springing  the  12,915  new 
characters  which  you  tell  us  to  multiply  by  12, 
and  thereby  estimate  154,980  lacunae  in  our 
literature.  But  tell  us  now  how  to  fill  them, 


GENERAL  CLASSIFICATION  241 

these  irritating  lacunae!  Tell  us  what  to  do, 
direct  our  hands,  if  you  can,  in  the  drawing  of 
these  154,980  figures,  or  simply  of  these  12,915 
characters,  or  even  of  the  369  unused  types 
which  you  have  just  pointed  out!" 

Nothing  could  please  me  better  than  such  a 
request. 

In  constituting  each  one  of  the  characters 
which  are  wanting  in  our  literatures,  it  is  neces- 
sary first  to  establish  its  PROPORTIONS. 

After  which,  it  remains  only  to  study  the  art 
of  presenting  them,  these  proportions,  by  means 
of  the  laws  of  LITERARY  PERSPECTIVE.  These 
two  studies  —  the  PROPORTIONS  of  the  human 
soul  and  PERSPECTIVE  in  matters  of  psychology 
—  will  form  the  objects  of  the  two  chapters 
through  which  I  now  invite  the  reader  to  follow 
me,  before  I  bring  this  book  to  its  conclusion. 


A  Treatise  on  the  Proportions  of 
the  Human  Soul 

CHAPTER  XI 
I  —  THE  COMPLETE  SOUL 

In  each  of  us,  it  has  been  affirmed  above,  there 
exists  not  simply  one  character,  one  individual, 
one  Self,  — nor  a  group  of  two  or  three,  nor  a 
collectivist  colony,  as  the  more  audacious  psy- 
chologists claim,  —  but  the  sum  of  ALL  human 
souls,  since  the  human  soul  is  everywhere  the 
same  and  in  every  one  complete. 

But  it  has  allowed  itself  —  not  without  struggles 
—  to  be  to  some  extent  enslaved,  ankylosed: 

1st :  By  EDUCATION,  mental,  moral  and  physical. 

2nd:  By  verbal  EQUIVOQUE,  — the  base  upon 
which  mythologists  have  raised  their  "etymolog- 
ical system,"  which  recalls  to  our  minds  that 
Socrates  likewise  attributed  all  sins  to  misunder- 
standing, to  imperfect  definitions. 

3rd:  By  EXAMPLE,  that  vast  "euhemerism" 
which  descends  from  the  heights  of  legendary 
history  to  the  familiar  relations  of  daily  life. 

Such  are  the  three  routes  by  which  the  Complete 
Soul  within  every  man  is  led  to  accept,  to  adopt 
the  special  attitude  to  which  his  companions, 


TREATISE  ON  PROPORTIONS  OF  THE  HUMAN  SOUL    243 

likewise  artificially  moulded,  wish  to  reduce  it, 
—  in  short,  his  "function."  And  by  it  the  rest 
of  his  free  activity  is  suppressed.  He  has  con- 
sented to  play  a  role,  he  has  become  an  actor  in 
the  human  comedy,  a  hypocrite  among  hypo- 
crites. His  soul,  priestess  of  the  PARTIAL  HUMAN 
TYPE  which  has  been  assigned  to  it,  abjures  for 
the  sake  of  this  idol  the  totality  which  it  rightly 
should  be,  the  image  of  God,  which  is  infinite  and 
perfect.  Henceforth,  confused  by  the  press  of 
unacknowledged  revolts  rising  from  the  sacri- 
ficed portions  of  its  plenitude,  it  will  deny,  desper- 
ately and  boldly,  the  existence  of  this  totality, 
will  endeavor  "to  conform  its  conduct  to  its 
principles,"  becoming  thus  a  double  or  multiple 
being,  contradictory  at  all  points,  instead  of 
remaining  single,  complete  and  harmonious. 

So,  into  each  of  these  fictions  which  constitute 
a  Character,  we  must  descend.  And  in  seeking 
behind  the  PARTIAL  HUMAN  TYPE  which  has  been 
adopted,  for  the  eleven  others  forced  back  into 
shadow,  we  shall  establish  the  "Proportions"  of 
the  deformed  and  martyrized  soul. 

In  even  the  noblest  Olympians,  these  "propor- 
tions" are  in  some  degree  imperfect.  Among 
those  of  Hellas,  for  example,  no  place  is  found 
for  tender  purity.  We  must  turn  toward  the 
ancient  India  of  the  Aryans,  or  toward  hyper- 


244  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

borean  snows  to  find  the  image  of  innocence;  in 
Greece  it  is,  so  to  speak,  obliterated  by  the  two 
neighboring  deities  Ares  and  Hestia.  From  them, 
in  fact,  Artemis-Hecate  receives,  on  the  one  hand, 
her  cruelty  and  taste  for  violent  exercises,  and 
on  the  other  the  shadow  and  parody  of  piety  in 
the  sorceries  of  Thrace,  while  her  Phcebean  gentle- 
ness, thus  corrupted,  does  not  shine  in  any  myth 
with  the  chaste  light  which  our  sentimentalism 
vainly  attributes  to  it.  What  a  contrast  dost 
thou  show  us,  O  sainted  Virgin  of  Judea! 

Everywhere,  in  each  religion,  each  nation, 
each  individual  whom  we  shall  find  denying  or 
neglecting  one  of  these  twelve  aspects  and  despis- 
ing it  as  "foreign,"  we  shall,  persevering,  obtain 
an  acknowledgment  of  it.  And  it  is  the  lacunae 
thus  filled  which  will  illumine  for  us,  by  complet- 
ing it,  the  Individual,  the  Century,  the  People, 
etc.,  heretofore  false  or  illusory  by  role  or  by 
custom,  and  for  that  reason  superficially  and  ill 
understood. 

II— FROM  WITHOUT  INWARD:    POLITICS 

AND  PSYCHOLOGY:  THEOPHRASTUS. 

The  Evolution  of  these  divers  aspects,  these 
divers  instincts,  these  divers  types  through  History 
will  explain  for  us  their  succession  in  the  single 
human  heart. 


TREATISE  ON  PROPORTIONS  OF  THE  HUMAN  SOUL    245 

Instead  of  proceeding,  in  short,  from  the  latter, 
invisible  and  consequently  unknown,  to  the  social 
group,  exterior,  visible,  tangible  and  known,  as 
our  age  is  accustomed  to  do,  is  it  not  more  in 
accord  with  the  scientific  method  of  the  age  to 
take  the  opposite  course? 

The  idealist  Plato,  without  doubt,  powerfully 
illuminated  Politics  by  connecting  the  passions 
with  its  diverse  revolutions,  showing  in  each 
of  the  latter  the  consequence  of  one  of  the  former, 
and  a  Taine  has  in  our  own  day  made  use,  if  not 
of  the  idea,  at  least  of  the  image,  in  explaining 
the  overthrow  of  the  French  social  system.  But 
if,  taking  up  the  profound  idea  of  the  Greek 
philosopher,  we  now  examine  it  in  an  inverse 
sense,  which  is  to  say  scientifically,  proceeding 
from  visible  Politics  to  the  mentality  of  the  indi- 
vidual, what  a  clearly  personified  and  OBJECTIVATED 
psychology  will  Politics  incarnate  for  us ! 

This  psychology  history  is  daily  broadening 
and  consolidating;  we  have  begun  to  grasp  the 
rhythm  of  it  through  the  ages  (in  the  law  of  four- 
century  periods  and  of  twelve  generations).  In 
turn,  epic — or  POETRY  in  general,  if  we  may 
believe  Aristotle  —  gives  us  its  most  durable 
verities,  as  the  DRAMA,  with  its  action  and  mim- 
icry, presents  its  most  perfect  and  tangible  image, 
according  to  the  same  author.  We  here  catch 


246  THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

a  glimpse  of  what  PANTOMIME,  which  connects 
these  with  the  plastic  arts,  might  become,  were 
it  one  day  resuscitated  from  the  pitiful  shroud 
of  our  Pierrots.  The  Roman  alone  perceived  its 
possibilities  of  greatness  when  he  applied  it  not 
only  to  the  interpretation  of  Greek  drama,  but 
to  the  events  of  his  own  civil  life,  which  he  knew 
to  be  decisive  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

Thus  we  emerge  from  the  psychological  mists 
of  philosophy  to  grasp  at  last  concrete  realities, 
discarding  the  abstract  phantoms  of  vague 
' 'faculties"  to  seize  upon  actions  and  forces. 

The  irreconcilable  (and  hereditary)  duality  of 
our  nature,  —  the  four  elements  or  "tempera- 
ments" between  which  it  continues  to  be  torn,  — 
their  six  possible  combinations,  identified  with 
the  six  directions  in  which  our  energy  can  move 
within  the  three  dimensions  of  space,  —  finally 
the  twelve  limits  which  are  created  when  they 
meet  with  the  first  obstacle  which  forces  them 
back,  the  twelve  physiognomy- types  which  we 
have  re-encountered  in  all  groupings,  —  all  these 
we  shall  demand  that  every  soul  reveal  and  con- 
fess to,  in  our  conviction  that  every  soul  is  iden- 
tical with  the  complete  human  soul,  and  that  we 
cannot  know  or  account  for  the  bases  of  its  domi- 
nant "character"  without  first  having  examined 
it  successively  from  these  dozen  angles. 


TREATISE  ON  PROPORTIONS  OF  THE  HUMAN  SOUL    247 

We  shall  call  to  witness,  in  the  first  place,  the 
THEORISTS,  eldest  and  most  original  of  whom  is 
Theophrastus.  A  "character"  in  his  collection 
is  usually  preceded  by  a  definition,  in  conformity 
with  the  taste  of  his  master  Aristotle,  and  is 
frequently  summed  up  in  a  final  formula. 
Between  these,  it  is  sketched  in  traits  whose 
number  varies  from  6  to  16.  There  is,  indeed, 
but  a  single  sketch  in  6  traits,  the  TARDILY 
EDUCATED,  so  little  developed  that  Molidre  could 
draw  from  it  only  the  first  act  of  the  BOURGEOIS 
GENTILHOMME,  and  we  find,  on  the  other  hand, 
but  two  figures  having  16  traits,  —  the  SHAME- 
LESS FELLOW  and  the  BOOR,  necessarily  a  little 
heavy,  while  the  sentences,  purposely  full  of 
repetitions,  reach  but  15  for  the  LOQUACIOUS. 

If  8  strokes  of  the  pencil  were  sufficient  for  the 
DISCONTENTED,  as  for  the  SUSPICIOUS  and  the 

IRRITATING  MAN,  9  for  the  OSTENTATIOUS  and 

10  for  the  ZEALOUS,  the  PROUD  and  the  RASCAL, 
it  is  easily  seen  that,  with  its  repetitions  sup- 
pressed, the  DISSIMULATOR,  and,  with  four  of 
his  secondary  traits  readily  reduced  to  two,  the 
SUPERSTITIOUS,  both  so  admirable,  will  return 
to  the  dozen  ARfiTES  under  which  are  thus  pre- 
sented to  us  twenty  of  these  twenty-eight  mar- 
velous "tanagras."  Besides  the  two  preceding, 
five  others  consist  of  11  traits  each  (the  WHEEDLER, 

the  ABSENT-MINDED,   the   BRUTAL,   the  VAIN- 


248  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

GLORIOUS,  the  GRANDEE),  three  of  13  (the  NEWS- 
MONGER, the  SLOVEN,  the  BORE)  and  all  the 
rest  of  exactly  12  (the  FLATTERER,  the  GARRULOUS, 

the  BOLDLY  GREEDY,  the  NIGGARD,  the  MISER, 
the  SLANDERER  and  the  COWARD. 

Now  these  traits,  these  ARfiTES  of  a  figurine, 
may  be  themselves  classed  in  2  categories,  which 
is  to  say  in  a  half-dozen  couples;  these  in  turn 
can  be  re-divided,  sometimes  into  two  groups, 
sometimes  into  three.  The  COWARD,  for  example, 
is  shown  in  6  attitudes  at  sea  and  6  in  war.  Or 
again,  we  find  in  the  ABSENT-MINDED,  3  groups 
of  4  traits  each,  in  themselves  perfectly  symme- 
tric, —  the  1st,  2nd,  5th  and  10th  traits,  the 
4th,  6th,  llth  and  12th,  the  3rd,  7th,  8th  and 
9th.  Of  these  three  groups,  the  first  shows  the 
personage  IN  THAT  WHICH  CONCERNS  HIMSELF, 
characterized  here  by  a  perpetual  absence  of 
mind;  the  second  tetrad  describes  him  in  the 
ORDINARY  RELATIONS  of  life;  the  third  represents 
him  speaking  and  acting  AS  IF  ON  THE  STAGE  OF 
A  THEATRE:  he  appears  at  first  LYRIC,  then  EPIC, 
then  DRAMATIC.  And  we  need  but  study  a  little 
the  six  facets  thus  coupled  by  each  of  these  three 
axes  —  analogous  to  those  which  in  Chapter  VI 
opposed  the  objective  and  possessive,  active  and 
sensitive,  intellectual  and  material  —  to  see  appear- 
ing at  the  12  aretes  the  12  eternal  figures  of  the 
gods. 


TREATISE  ON  PROPORTIONS  OF  THE  HUMAN  SOUL     249 

Doubtless  we  have  here  exceeded  altogether 
the  intention  of  the  author  (although  a  Greek), 
but  we  perhaps  exceed  less  the  ideal'  which  he 
instinctively  pursued,  — just  as  it  was  uncon- 
sciously pursued  by  the  makers  of  Legend,  full 
of  beautiful  tales,  naive  and  logical,  whose  epi- 
sodes have  none  the  less  been  gathered  by  the 
successors  of  Dupuis  into  a  "solar  myth"  and 
the  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac! 

Both  Legend  and  Theophrastus  were  but  obey- 
ing an  AESTHETIC  INSTINCT  which  consists  in 
adaptation  to  the  general  rhythm  of  the  universe; 
this  rhythm  proceeds  from  the  three  dimensions 
which  oblige  man,  physical  and  moral,  —  dynamic 
man  —  to  distribute  his  energies  in  six  directions, 
until,  forced  back  by  conflicting  energies,  they 
turn  obliquely  and  are  quickly  condensed  into 
twelve  laws,  twelve  "gods  sprung  from  man." 

We  know  that  the  28  studies  of  Theophrastus 
were  drawn,  as  La  Bruy&re  says,  "from  the  Ethics 
and  Morals  of  Aristotle,"  and  that  "the  founda- 
tion of  the  characters  described  therein  comes 
from  the  same  source."  The  stream  from  that 
source  may  be  followed  across  the  centuries, 
from  the  day  of  the  author  of  the  POETICS  to  the 
moment  when,  swollen  by  the  tributaries  which 
from  every  direction  have  brought  to  it  Chris- 
tianity with  its  amazing  decrees,  it  became  a 


250      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

vast   theological   river  carrying  the   sum   of   all 
European  moralities. 

In  each  of  the  component  items  accorded  by 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas  or  his  predecessors  to  a 
vice,  in  each  of  the  definitions  or  conclusions  of 
the  Greek  moralist  and  his  successors 
we  may  grasp  a  link  of  the  DIDACTIC  chain  whereby 
the  monography  of  that  vice  is  connected  with 
the  whole  of  the  general  classification  adopted 
by  the  author;  and  each  classification  may  be 
brought  back,  as  we  have  observed,  to  our  tab- 
leau of  the  Twelve  Gods. 

This  didactic  element  comes  finally  to  com- 
plete the  elements  or  tetrads,  lyric,  epic  and 
dramatic,  above  pointed  out  in  each  "figurine" 
of  character.  In  short,  after  having  detached  it 
from  one  of  the  articles  of  moral  theology,  we 
find  that  it  exhibits,  as  we  shall  see,  the  12  prin- 
cipal traits. 

Ill— ST.  BERNARD,  ST.  BENOIT  AND  SENECA: 
THE  VARIOUS  LITERARY  FORMS 

Let  us  take  from  St.  Bernard,  for  example, 
the  TREATISE  ON  THE  DIFFERENT  DEGREES  OF 
HUMILITY  AND  PRIDE.  We  find  distributed  in 
3  groups  the  12  steps  by  which  the  scholar  descends 
into  Pride.  He  here  retraces  inversely  precisely 
the  path  by  which  he  climbed  the  12  degrees  of 


TREATISE  ON  PROPORTIONS  OF  THE  HUMAN  SOUL    251 

humility,  according  to  the  ride  previously  given 
by  St.  Benoit.  From  the  height  to  which  the 
great  Patriarch  led  him  with  HUMILITY  OF  THE 
EYES,  the  last  of  the  Fathers  shows  him  beginning 
to  descend  by  CURIOSITY  OF  MIND.  LEVITY  next 
soon  causes  him  to  lose  his  CALM  AND  GENTLE 

SPEECH.    INAPPROPRIATE  MIRTH  will  take  from 

him  the  benefit  of  INFREQUENT  LAUGHTER. 
BOASTFULNESS  will  destroy  the  work  of  SILENCE. 
Individual  PECULIARITY  will  make  him  detest  the 
COMMON  RULE.  ARROGANCE  will  replace  the 
HABIT  OF  ESTEEMING  HIMSELF  INFERIOR  TO  OTHERS, 
—  a  right  and  virtuous  habit  based  upon  a  pro- 
found reason,  as  may  be  seen  by  what  was  said 
in  Chapter  II  on  THE  IMITATION  OF  CHRIST. 
Foolish  PRESUMPTION  triumphs  over  a  wholesome 
CONSCIOUSNESS  OF  HIS  USELESSNESS.  He  UPHOLDS 
HIS  FAULTS  like  a  poor  pagan,  instead  of  CAN- 
DIDLY ACKNOWLEDGING  EVEN  HIS  SINFUL 

THOUGHTS.  PRETENDED  CONFESSION  destroys 
what  edification  he  may  have  formerly  given  by 
ENDURANCE  IN  THE  SPIRIT  OF  OBEDIENCE.  REBEL- 
LION enters  on  the  scene,  in  place  of  SUBMISSION 
TO  SUPERIORS  FOR  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD;  then  follows 
LIBERTY  TO  SIN,  in  place  of  SELF-DENIAL;  finally, 
at  the  bottom  step,  the  HABIT  OF  SIN  uproots  the 
CONSTANT  FEAR  OF  GOD. 

We  may  go  now,  if  we  wish,  to  the  heart  of  the 
details:     the  12  types  of  Scholar,  appearing  on 


252  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

the  12  steps  of  this  ladder,  may  each  be  outlined 
before  the  reader  in  a  dozen  traits,  —  like  the 
Characters  of  Theophrastus. 

Upon  the  step  of  ARROGANCE  do  we  not  see 
standing  out  conspicuously  the  VAIN,  whose 
admirable  portrait,  by  the  same  St.  Bernard, 
may  here  be  quoted: 

"The  Vain  Man  is  loud  of  voice  or  sulkily  silent; 
he  is  dissolute  in  joy,  angry  in  grief;  inwardly 
dishonest  and  outwardly  honest;  he  is  stiff  in  his 
demeanor,  sharp  in  his  responses;  always  ready 
to  attack,  always  weak  in  defense;  he  yields 
with  bad  grace;  he  is  importunate  to  obtain  his 
desires;  he  does  not  do  those  things  which  he  can 
and  should  do,  but  he  is  quick  to  attempt  what 
he  cannot  and  should  not  do."  (DE  MOR. 
XXXIV,  16). 

And  we  could,  without  straining  a  point,  reduce 
to  the  same  "Proportions"  the  portraits  which 
fill  the  writings  of  orators  and  moralists  in  all 
literatures.  Constantly  does  the  effort  to  per- 
fect and  condense  one  of  these  portraits  lead 
toward  these  duodenary  Proportions. 

Flaubert,  that  master  of  pure  prose,  observed 
likewise  that  the  labor  of  the  stylist  involuntarily 
inclines  the  rhythm  of  a  phrase  toward  the  duo- 
denary proportions  of  the  alexandrine.  So  in- 
nately is  this  rhythm  a  part  of  us ! 


TREATISE  ON  PROPORTIONS  OF  THE  HUMAN  SOUL    253 

Need  we  recall  the  12  visible  signs  of  an  angry 
man,  according  to  Seneca  (DE  IRA)  ? 

"His  eyes  flash  and  glitter;  his  face  reddens; 
his  heart  beats  rapidly;  his  lips  tremble;  his 
teeth  grind;  his  hair  bristles;  he  breathes  hard 
and  with  a  hiss;  his  joints  crack  as  he  clenches 
his  hands;  he  growls  or  bellows;  his  hasty  words 
interrupt  each  other;  he  beats  his  hands  together; 
he  stamps  his  foot,"  — and,  as  the  author  sum- 
marizes him  in  a  final  13th  trait,  "all  his  agitated 
being  exhales  menace." 

But  why  enlarge  further  upon  the  THEORISTS? 
It  is  the  same  with  the  HISTORIANS,  although  here 
the  painter  inscribes  a  famous  name  under  his 
study.  That  of  Seneca,  above  quoted,  might  be 
entitled  NERO. 

We  find  simply  that  in  reality  the  theoretical 
essays  upon  this  or  that  passion,  vice  or  virtue 
NEVER  HAVE  THE  ABSTRACT  CHARACTER  they 
are  assumed  to  have.  Each  of  these  essays 
represents  a  human  being,  duly  constituted,  —  a 
little  anthropomorphic  god  (there  are  no  others, 
since  man,  according  to  the  Bible,  is  theomorphic), 
—  a  demon  or  an  angel,  as  the  Middle  Ages 
would  have  termed  him,  —  a  personage  necessarily 
equipped  with  all  his  organs. 

The  Theatre  of  the  subtile  Middle  Ages,  with 
its  Moralities  especially,  abounds  in  such  little 


254     THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

gods;  despite  their  allegorical  names  they  gambol 
about,  and  in  their  animation  display  more  real 
life  than  has  remained  in  their  descendants  of 
the  drama  of  Character,  of  Manners  or  of  Plot. 
FALSE-SEEMING  here  acts  and  speaks  with  another 
verisimilitude,  another  resemblance  to  what  we 
see  around  us,  than  do  the  characters  of  Messieurs 
C.,  D.,  L.  etc.;  mediaeval  VAIN-GLORY  is  far 
more  a  human  being,  walking,  rejoicing,  eating, 
sleeping,  than  the  GLORIEUX  of  Destouches, 
adorned  with  twenty  titles  of  nobility,  —  yet  is 
not  the  comedy  of  Character  superior  in  this 
respect  to  that  of  Manners  or  of  Plot? 

If,  instead  of  vaguely  designating  Don  Fernand 
as  his  AMBITIOUS,  Destouches  had  transferred 
his  characteristic  signs  to  this  or  that  favored 
celebrity,  he  would  have  written  a  so-called 
HISTORIC  DRAMA.  In  the  majority  of  the 
"Characters"  of  the  moralist  La  Bruy&re,  we  can 
recognize  the  figures  drawn  in  the  various  Memoirs 
of  the  period;  Memoirs  which,  in  restoring  them 
to  their  civil  state,  make  of  them  also  historic 
studies.  So  purely  imaginary  is  the  distinction 
between  the  art  of  the  MORALIST  and  that  of  the 
HISTORIAN! 

Still  more  do  the  EPIC  POET  and  the  NOVELIST, 
more  generous  in  their  types,  mingle  with  the 
moralists.  The  LYRIC  POET  in  turn  —  whether 


TREATISE  ON  PROPORTIONS  OF  THE  HUMAN  SOUL    255 

he  shows  us  one  of  the  convulsions  of  his  own 
soul,  or  the  reflection  therein  of  a  light  from  this 
or  that  face  of  the  external  world  —  does  he  not 
also  give  us  the  "document"  of  an  attitude,  of 
one  of  the  ARfiTES  of  the  Self  everywhere  identical, 
just  as  the  epic  poet,  the  novelist,  the  theologian, 
the  historian  and  the  moralist  have  already  done? 


Perspective  in  Matters  of 
Psychology 

CHAPTER  XII 
I  —  COMPARATIVE  PERSPECTIVE 

Certainly  it  is  interesting,  —  after  having  con- 
templated the  elements  of  a  character  at  their 
crisis  in  the  LYRIC,  and  after  having  studied  its 
analysis  by  the  THEORISTS  of  the  soul,  moralists, 
technicians,  casuists,  — to  follow,  through  his- 
tory, epic,  romance,  in  a  word,  through  NARRA- 
TIVE, the  fashion  in  which  these  elements  evolve, 
in  which  they  succeed  one  another,  and  to  con- 
sider them  from  the  point  of  view  of  unilinear 
time. 

Two  characters  arranged  in  parallel,  according 
to  the  manner  of  Plutarch,  —  whether  characters 
of  individuals  or  of  peoples,  —  even  three,  four, 
five  or  more,  whose  course  we  observe  synchroni- 
cally,  may  form  not  merely  a  historian's  diver- 
sion, but  may  inaugurate  a  science  as  yet  unstudied 
and  fecund:  that  of  Comparative  Biography. 
Will  it  not  be  interesting  to  grasp  them,  these 
characters,  in  an  epitome  which  permits  us  to 
perceive  their  reciprocal  action  in  the  group  with 
which  they  are  intertwined,  and  that  of  their 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       257 

constitutive  elements  upon  each  other,  thanks  to 
certain  actions? 

It  is  this  which  is  achieved,  with  rigorous  econ- 
omy, in  Comedy.  From  Aristophanes  the  art 
springs  complete.  His  Socrates  in  THE  CLOUDS, 

—  inspired  apparently  by  the  Homeric  MARGITES 

—  is  shown  us  in  12  attitudes,  farcical,  odious  or 
absurd,   corresponding  to   exactly  as  many   epi- 
sodes.    It  is  these   episodes  which,  enriched  by 
what  we  call  a  Prologue  and  by  the  songs  of  the 
Chorus,  form  the  whole  of  the  play. 

Now,  of  these  12  attitudes,  4  are  of  ACTION 
and  FEELING,  4  of  IDEALISM  and  REALISM,  4  of 
APPEAKANCE  and  POSSESSIVITY,  —  which  corre- 
sponds, as  we  perceive,  to  our  distribution  within 
the  3  dimensions  of  space  of  the  6  directions  of 
our  energy. 

The  4  scenes  of  ACTION-FEELING  are:  the 
impious  teaching  of  the  Philosopher  (Socrates 
here  being  but  the  incarnation  of  all  novel  philos- 
ophy in  the  eyes  of  Aristophanes) ;  his  communi- 
cation of  Wrong  Reasoning  to  the  young  man 
(who,  it  may  be  remembered,  was  brought  by  his 
father  with  a  view  to  obtaining  from  the  Master 
such  sophisms  as  might  permit  them  to  evade 
their  Debts  and  escape  the  irritating  Duties  which 
were  knocking  at  the  family  door) ;  the  inevitable 
consequence,  the  son  ill-treating  the  father;  the 


258  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

avenging  reaction  postponed  more  or  less,  but 
inevitable,  the  father  of  the  family  finally  enlight- 
ened and  attacking  the  Philosopher. 

The  4  scenes  of  IDEALISM-REALISM,  of  grotesque 
contrasts,  show  us:  the  Philosopher  suspended 
"between  earth  and  heaven"  in  a  basket  (the 
same  which  we  encounter  again  in  the  famous 
LAI  DE  VlRGILE);  then  singing  of  the  Clouds,  his 
cousins  in  metaphysics  and  the  very  worthy 
emblems  of  ephemeral  systems;  the  meditative 
concentration  .  .  .  under  the  coverlet  where 
the  unfortunate  Strepsiade  feels  himself  being 
devoured  by  bugs;  the  scandalous  triumph  of 
Wrong. 

If  these  scenes  describe  the  Master  himself, 
those  which  remain  will  tell  us  of  his  RELATIONS 
WITH  OTHERS,  his  teachings:  the  preposterous 
inventions  of  the  School;  the  bizarre  posture  of 
the  Disciples  bent  earthward;  the  lesson  in  Phi- 
lology (remembered,  like  Theophrastus'  descrip- 
tion of  the  TARDILY  EDUCATED,  by  MolieYe  when 
writing  his  BOURGEOIS  GENTILHOMME) ;  and, 
above  all,  the  principles  of  an  "amoralism"  and 
of  a  "struggle  for  life,"  eternally  modern. 

Tartufe,  more  sinister,  exhibits  the  hypocrisy 
of  the  "roundheads,"  his  contemporaries. 

4  attitudes  present  him  to  us  IN  PERSON:  at 
church,  multiplying  his  genuflections  and  signs 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       259 

of  the  cross ;  then  his  theatrical  and  formal  entrance 
into  the  action;  then  bashful  and  awkward  before 
Dorine,  and  lastly  avidly  usurping  the  property 
of  others. 

4  scenes  show  the  INFLUENCE  of  his  deceptive 
words  on  OTHERS:  the  first  recounting  the  amaz- 
ing omnipotence  of  this  mere  layman;  the  second, 
the  foolish  infatuation  of  Orgon  for  a  man  pos- 
sessed of  no  authority  except  through  the  blind- 
ness of  his  victim;  in  the  third,  that  of  the  "Et 
Tartufe,"  we  can  put  our  finger  on  that  colossal 
naivete,  almost  amorous;  another  scene  reminds 
us  of  it  sadly  and  ironically  in  the  belated  obsti- 
nacy of  Madame  Pernelle. 

4  scenes  show  Tartufe  occupied  in  PURE  ACTION : 
his  Declaration  to  Elmire;  the  Equivoque  by 
which  he  afterward  withdraws  himself  so  easily 
from  the  affairs;  the  Confession  which  he  makes 
in  Act  IV  of  his  true  nature;  and  the  final  COUP 
DE  THEATRE  when  he  expels  from  the  house  its 
legitimate  proprietors. 

The  impious  DON  JUAN  is  a  very  brother  to 
him;  as  pictured  originally  by  Tirso  de  Molina; 
a  hypocrite  and  libertine,  who  likewise  mocks 
at  Heaven  and  invokes  it  brazenly.  Despite  the 
golden  and  rose-colored  vestures  which  we  have 
since  bestowed  upon  him,  he  still  retains  his  Satanic 
physiognomy. 


260  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

In  Molidre's  portrait  Don  Juan  ventures  his 
own  Apology.  His  attitude  toward  the  creditors 
further  differentiates  him;  he  is  a  rich  man,  or  at 
least  a  man  of  credit,  of  reputation;  he  is  a  man  of 
today,  while  Tartufe  is  but  a  man  of  tomorrow. 
The  evil  which  Tartufe  does  to  people  of  property 
Don  Juan  does  to  the  poor;  his  filial  disrespect 
lastly  completes,  with  a  4th  trait,  his  ORDINARY 
RELATIONS  WITH  OTHERS,  of  which  the  rupture 
with  Elvire  is  also  a  part. 

The  4  ARfiTES  which  outline  his  PERSONAL 
PHYSIOGNOMY  may  be  thus  enumerated:  his  easy 
conquests  of  Act  II  and  his  scepticism  so  clearly 
proclaimed  in  Act  III;  then  his  libertinism  in  its 
two  aspects;  then  his  attitude  toward  the  weeping 
Elvire,  and  his  blasphemous  parody  of  repentance. 

The  4  parts  most  essential  to  the  ACTION-SEN- 
TIMENT seem  to  be:  the  warning  felt  by  the  poor 
woman;  the  invitation  to  the  Commander;  the 
fanfaronnade  of  the  visit  to  him;  the  final  and 
damnatory  obstinacy  at  the  moment  of  the 
avenging  catastrophe. 

In  reality  this  GRAND  SEIGNEUR,  —  whom  it 
is  as  ridiculous  for  our  comedians  to  represent 
in  a  sympathetic  light  as  it  is  to  show  the  MIS- 
ANTHROPE pathetically  —  this  lofty  personage 
gives  forth,  as  it  were,  in  the  world  of  deceit,  the 
highest  note  of  a  scale  which  is  run  by  Goupil  in 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       261 

the  ROMANS  DE  RENARD;  it  descends  by  Tartufe 
and  Socrates  already  cited,  then  by  THE  ALCHE- 
MIST of  Jonson  to  the  hero  of  the  FOURBERIES  DE 
SCAPIN. 

Although  this  farce  has  but  two  acts,  Scapin 
therein  has  time  to  make  his  Apology  (Act  II, 
scene  3)  like  Don  Juan.  The  4  scenes  of  his 
INTRIGUE  are  outlined  by:  the  story  of  the  pre- 
tended forced  Marriage;  the  bargaining  for  the 
sum  destined  to  break  it  off;  the  story  of  the 
Galley;  and  the  old  parade  of  the  Sack  and  the 
blows  of  the  Stick. 

Scapin  is  especially  CHARACTERIZED  by:  the 
larcenies  which  he  himself  acknowledges;  the 
boldness  with  which  he  begs  through  Leandre 
his  indispensable  support;  his  feigned  reluctance 
to  accept  the  money  which  Argante  confides  to 
him,  and  his  ardor  in  vengeance. 

The  4  last  and  secondary  traits  are  sketched: 
in  the  stratagem  of  Sylvestre,  disguised  by  him 
as  a  bravo;  in  that  which  procures  him  his  final 
pardon;  in  his  malice,  and  in  that  repetition  of 
the  paternal  return  which,  taken  from  Plautus, 
furnished  Shakespeare  with  so  good  a  theme  for 
the  Falstaff  of  his  HENRY  IV. 

In  the  latter  drama  Falstaff  is  likewise  por- 
trayed in  12  essential  lines:  a  Portrait  by  others 
and  an  Apology  by  himself,  —  corresponding  t 


262  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

the  definition  and  the  conclusion  which  frame 
the  figures  of  Theophrastus  —  are  added  to  the 
rest,  as  in  Moliere:  the  Apology  in  the  scene  to 
which  I  have  just  referred,  and  the  Portrait 
under  the  form,  so  original,  of  contumely.  (Act  I.) 

Here  is  the  first  tetrade  of  the  12  essential 
lines:  the  amusing  heaviness  of  the  hero  flying 
from  the  ambuscade  prepared  for  him  by  the 
princely  joker;  his  adulation  when  he  sees,  later, 
his  boastings  belied;  the  gluttony  of  which  the 
note  found  in  his  pocket  gives  evidence;  and,  on 
the  field  of  battle,  his  superb  tirade  against  honor. 

The  second  tetrad  consists  of:  his  cries  which 
make  his  whole  part  in  the  ambuscade ;  the  notched 
sword  and  the  false  wounds  he  exhibits  in  support 
of  his  lying  narrative;  his  brazen  reproaches  to 
the  hostess,  his  creditor,  and  his  rhodomontade 
belied  by  Prince  Henry. 

Lastly,  in  the  tetrad  of  ACTION-SENTIMENT, 
we  have:  the  haste  with  which  he  recruits  his 
calamitous  regiment;  his  conduct  on  the  field  of 
battle;  the  fashion  in  which  he  there  simulates 
death,  and  that  in  which  he  claims  the  corpse  of 
the  heroic  Hotspur. 

We  have  come  to  the  play  of  TWO  chief  charac- 
ters, the  dimensions  of  Shakespearean  drama 
permitting,  in  effect,  their  development  at  the 
same  time.  Prince  Henry  is  sketched  in  the 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       263 

Portrait-monologue  of  Act  I,  pendant  to  the 
character  of  Falstaff,  almost  as  a  Dionysos  beside 
his  father  Silenus. 

Then  we  see  him  in  turn:  exhibiting  his  famil- 
iarity with  the  porters  at  the  tavern;  mirthfully 
mimicking  the  reproaches  which  he  expects  from 
his  father;  dignified  before  the  sheriff,  and  finally 
rebuking  his  ex-companion  Falstaff,  thrust  behind 
him  with  all  his  past  youthful  folly.  Such  are 
his  RELATIONS  WITH  OTHERS. 

His  INDIVIDUALITY  shows  itself  from  the  begin- 
ning: a  joker  at  the  expense  of  Francis  as  of 
Falstaff;  haunted,  at  bottom,  by  the  image  of 
Hotspur;  later,  superior  to  the  vain-glory  which 
he  abandons  to  the  Falstaffian  "bluff;"  and, 
beside  this,  full  of  fraternal  delicacy. 

The  ACTION  finally  projects  him:  suddenly  great 
before  his  father;  brave  and  happy  on  the  field 
of  battle;  obstinately  gay  despite  his  wounds, 
and  piously  affected  before  Hotspur,  slain  by  him. 

Moliere,  on  the  contrary,  in  default  of  the 
same  dimensions,  could  not  similarly  detail  C6H- 
mdne  beside  the  MISANTHROPE. 

The  latter,  however,  reveals  himself  by:  his 
reproaches  to  Philinte;  his  attitude  toward  the 
sonnet  of  Oronte;  his  attacks  on  worldly  scandal, 
and  his  obstinacy  at  the  time  of  the  intervention 
of  the  marshals. 


264  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Coming  to  words  with  the  prudish  Arsinoe, 
blundering  and  maladroit  toward  Eliante  (IV,  2) ; 
he  is  rejected  by  the  former,  whom  he  has  wounded 
(V,  6),  and  fails  equally  with  the  latter  (V,  8); 
all  secondary  actions  and  intended  to  portray 
his  ORDINARY  RELATIONS  WITH  OTHERS. 

The  PRINCIPAL  ACTION  consists  of:  his  quarrels 
with  Celim£ne  (II,  1);  his  jealousy  conflicting 
with  her  coquetry  (IV,  3);  putting  her  to  the 
necessity  of  speaking  out  (V,  2),  and  exhibiting 
toward  her  all  the  failings  of  his  character,  too 
stiff  and  unyielding. 

But  the  Coquette,  having  been  once  described 
by  him  (II,  1),  is  but  half -developed  -in  6  scenes 
instead  of  12:  that  of  the  Portraits  (II,  4)  and 
that  in  which  she  caricatures  Arsinoe  (III,  3); 
that  in  which  she  contends  with  the  said  Arsinoe 
(III,  5)  and  that  in  which  she  teases  Alceste 
(IV,  3) ;  that  in  which  she  tries  to  steal  away  (V,  2) 
and  that  in  which,  pardoned,  she  still  remains 
the  coquette  she  has  always  been  and  will  always 
be  (V,  7). 

We  have  one  Sketch  of  her  by  others  (I,  1)  and 
her  Apology  by  herself  (III,  5). 

The  narrowness  of  the  Classic  framework 
explains  why  the  characters  surrounding  the 
Protagonist  are  so  little  amplified;  the  breadth 
of  the  Romantic  frame,  on  the  contrary,  demands 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       265 

that  the  number  of  chief  characters  be  increased, 
to  avoid  emptiness.  For  lack  of  an  equal  to  his 
ALCHEMIST,  Ben  Jonson  permits  him  to  drift 
somewhat  uncertainly,  after  the  Portrait  con- 
tumely of  the  beginning.  Nevertheless  the  essen- 
tial elements  are  re-encountered : 

The  rogue  beseeching  his  innocent  victim,  to 
dupe  her;  his  role  of  go-between;  his  boldness  in 
defying  the  Spaniard  in  English  and  his  feigned 
divination  of  the  name  of  Dame  Pliant  complete 
the  first  drawing  of  our  Cunning  character. 

After  which,  rival  of  his  accomplice  (the  dis- 
guised domestic  Face)  with  the  poor  lady,  he 
attempts,  having  been  unable  to  obtain  her 
himself,  to  make  her  sully  herself;  he  flouts  the 
candid  "godchild  of  the  fairy"  and  exploits  him, 
or  designs  to  make  use  of  the  prostitute  Dol,  his 
instrument.  Thus  are  presented  the  4  outlines 
of  the  occultist  in  his  CONDUCT  TOWARD  HIS 
DUPES  AND  HIS  "BROTHERS." 

The  ACTION  may  be  summarized  in  a  quater- 
nary not  less  traditional :  imposing,  for  the  prom- 
ised success  of  the  great  work,  a  condition 
which  the  neophyte  cannot  fulfill  (drolly  enough, 
it  is  chastity  which  is  here  in  question);  bringing 
the  property  with  a  view  to  "transmuting"  it; 
selling  to  the  solemn  Anabaptist  rascals,  more 
scrupulous  in  words  than  in  conscience,  the  said 


266  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

property,  and  finally  preparing  the  general  pillage, 
in  which  his  professional  vices  cause  him  to  be  taken. 

The  relative  lack  of  consistency  with  which 
the  rest  of  the  characters  may  be  charged  (Dol 
Common,  Face,  Lovewit,  etc.), — and  which  we 
re-encounter  today  upon  the  modern  stage,  where, 
likewise,  attempts  are  made  to  disguise  it  by 
frenzied  action  (romanticism),  or,  with  less  suc- 
cess, by  the  idle  talk  and  "MOTS"  of  modernism,  — 
this  lack  might  easily  be  found  even  in  the  Pro- 
tagonist, in  default  of  a  study  sufficiently  dis- 
closing to  the  author  his  various  principal  aspects. 

Thus  LE  GLORIEUX,  by  Destouches,  repeats, 
even  to  satiety,  the  same  effects,  almost  all  too 
weak.  His  Portrait  drags  through  three  succes- 
sive scenes  (Act  I,  sc.  2,  3,  4)  independently  of 
his  sensational  entrance  (II,  10),  a  reminiscence 
of  TARTUFE. 

The  letter  which  exasperates  his  crisis  of  vanity 
(II,  12);  the  pompous  enumeration  of  his  proper- 
ties aind  distinctions  (IV,  1) ;  his  shame  of  his 
father  (IV,  8)  and  the  nomenclature  of  his  titles 
in  the  contract  PORTRAY  him  well  enough. 

But  his  imprudent  contempt  for  Lisette;  her 
advice  (a  weak  feature) ;  the  disdain  which  Philinte 
inspires  in  him,  and  the  public  denial  of  his  father 
merely  add  heaviness  to  the  piece,  and  we  seem 
to  feel  the  glacial  breath  of  the  THESIS-DRAMA. 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       267 

As  to  the  PURE  ACTION,  it  is  too  long;  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  GLORIEUX  to  Isabelle,  repeated 
three  times  (II,  11  and  13;  III,  1);  his  haughty 
bearing  toward  her,  his  blundering  with  his 
partisan,  his  renewed  blundering  with  Lisinon; 
the  final  maladroitness  by  which  he  alienates 
Isabelle,  and  especially  his  conversation,  false 
in  tone  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  "theatrical." 

Is  there  need  to  cite  other  proofs  of  duodenary 
Perspective?  Shall  we  enumerate  the  12  fiTOUR- 
DERIES  of  L'ETOURDI?  These  consist  of: 

1st,  breaking  off  the  apologue  of  Mascarille  in 
presence  of  Truffaldin;  restitution  of  Anselme's 
purse;  his  amnesia  when  disguised  as  an  Armenian, 
and  his  amorous  abstraction  even  at  the  table 
of  Truffaldin. 

2nd,  preventing  Anselme's  buying  of  Celie; 
the  defense  of  her  reputation,  very  MAL  A  PROPOS, 
against  the  suspicions  of  his  rival  Leandre,  which 
Mascarille  had  already  almost  turned  aside;  deny- 
ing that  the  latter  had  quit  his  service,  and  deliv- 
ering Andrds,  opportunely  arrested. 

3rd,  the  inopportune  invention  of  a  pretended 
father  of  Celie,  directing  Truffaldin  to  guard  her, 
just  when  Leandre,  abused  by  the  ingenious 
Mascarille,  had  imprudently  confided  to  him  the 
purchase;  the  denouncing  of  the  project  for  the 
abduction  by  the  said  Leandre,  preventing  that 


268     THE  ART  OP  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

prepared  by  Mascarille;  the  confiding  of  the 
latter's  ruse  to  Andre's  in  avowing  his  love  for 
Celie;  persistence  in  making  Mascarille  abandon 
the  jargon  which  he  affects  to  speak. 

And  need  we  count  the  12  falsehoods  of  LE 
MENTEUR?  Need  we  cite,  from  various  epochs 
and  genres,  THE  MISER,  THE  BRAGGART  SOLDIER, 

LE  JOUEUR,  LE  BOURGEOIS  GENTILHOMME,  THE 
CONSTANT  PRINCE,  THE  TAMING  OF  THE  SHREW, 

Bartholo  in  THE  BARBER  OF  SEVILLE,  Arnolphe 
in  THE  SCHOOL  FOR  WIVES?  Not  to  weary  the 
reader,  I  content  myself  with  figuring  their 
analyses  in  the  accompanying  table. 

We  may  here  establish,  for  every  well-marked 
character: 

A  a,  his  Portrait  by  the  persons  who  gravitate 
about  him,  and 

A  b,  the  Apologies  which  he  makes  in  person 
(both  portraits  and  apologies  being  divisible  in 
turn  into  a  dozen  features); 

B  a,  4  scenes  in  which  he  REVEALS  HIMSELF  in 
his  "idiosyncrasy," — to  speak  in  the  philosoph- 
ical argot; 

B  b,  4  scenes  in  which  his  RELATIONS  WITH 
OTHERS  especially  appear; 

B  c,  4  scenes,  lastly,  in  which  his  nature  forms 
the  principal  spring  of  the  ACTION. 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       269 

Note,  in  addition,  that  in  each  of  these  two 
last  groups,  2  of  the  4  scenes  almost  always 
counterbalance  the  2  others:  if  the  hero  is  at  the 
bottom  in  the  first  couple,  he  is  at  the  top  in  the 
second. 

II  —  THE  CHARACTERS  OF  MOLI*IRE 
SHAKESPEARE,  PLAUTUS,  BALZAC 

Of  TARTUFE,  of  DON  JUAN,  of  THE  MISER, 
THE  MISANTHROPE,  etc.,  the  epitomes  offered  us 
differ,  but  not  the  point  of  view  from  which  the 
author  makes  us  contemplate  them. 

The  "Molieresque  method"  being  once  precisely 
stated,  it  will  be  interesting  to  dispose  his  elements 
under  the  angle,  for  example,  at  which  the 
Shakespearean  characters  appear  to  us,  —  and 
so  on  for  other  authors.  This  work  will  give  us 
PERSPECTIVE  AS  EACH  MASTER  HAS  CONCEIVED  IT. 

I  fear,  as  I  have  said,  to  weary  the  reader; 
otherwise  I  would  show  how  such  a  study,  pro- 
ceeding from  one  literature,  one  school,  one 
writer  successively  to  all  the  others,  would  create 
for  the  first  time  a  veritable  philosophic  and 
scientific  LITERARY  HISTORY. 

From  a  general  character  like  the  Greek  Apollo, 
we  see  separating  and  evolving  the  pure  Artist 
and  the  unfortunate  Lover:  these  are  reunited 
in  Orpheus.  There  is  also  the  character  of  the 


270  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Unfortunate  pure  and  simple.  These  three 
branches  produced,  in  the  Homeric  epoch,  the 
Unfortunate  Artist  (Demodocus),  the  Inspired 
and  Fatal  Prophetess  (Cassandra),  the  Lover 
ill-fated  and  unknowingly  criminal  (CEDIPUS)  and 
the  Parricide  almost  equally  innocent  (Orestes), 
all  overshadowed  by  the  same  god.  To  Parody 
he  has  given  Marsyas,  then  MARGITES,  ancestor 
of  all  pedants;  elevated  to  a  serious  plane,  these 
furnish  the  Fantastic  types  of  artists,  intellec- 
tuals, Utopians  —  or  their  caricatures.  The  lati- 
tudes and  developments  of  races  and  the  per- 
sonalities of  authors  being  here  mingled,  we 
obtain  progressively,  from  the  various  branches 
of  this  "genealogical  tree:"  Winckelmann,  Ruy- 
Blas,  Abbe  Mouret,  the  Misanthrope,  Timon  of 
Athens,  the  cook  Vatel,  Philaminte,  Trissotin, 
Tribulat  Bonhommet,  Fourier,  Balthazar  Claes, 
the  heroes  of  Hoffman,  Cousin  Pons,  etc. 

As  for  the  SPECIAL  PERSPECTIVE  of  a  single 
work,  we  may  ascertain,  in  the  said  work: 

In  what  manner  the  twelve  elements  of  a 
character  fit  into  those  of  surrounding  characters; 

how  this  relationship  changes  in  a  second  work 
by  the  same  author; 

how  it  changes  when  we  pass  to  a  new  author 
treating  the  same  subject,  —  or  a  different  sub- 
ject; 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       271 

then  when  we  pass  to  a  new  school,  literature 
or  epoch; 

how  far  these  diverse  works  permit  of  sharply 
drawn  characters,  and  so  on 

But  especially  will  it  be  interesting  to  study, 
in  the  works  of  a  single  writer,  the  ENTIRE  SCOPE 
of  the  characters  which  he  offers  the  public. 
Every  one  of  these  incarnates  one  of  the  souls 
of  the  "poet  of  a  thousand  souls."  They  dis- 
tribute themselves  according  to  the  inevitable 
division  of  the  main  enclosing  lines,  and  each  of 
these  groups,  showing  us  one  side  of  the  poet, 
tells  us  on  what  number  of  points  and  at  what 
level  will  emerge  the  complete  being,  which  he 
felt  in  his  heart  and  which  he  wished,  by  means 
of  these  creations,  to  bring  from  out  the  shadow 
wherein  Society  endeavors  to  compress  the  greater 
part  of  our  nature. 

MolieYe's  company  of  actors  were,  so  to  speak, 
his  organs ;  his  comedians  represented  —  and  were 
—  but  the  "lines  of  ARfiTE"  of  his  great  soul. 
Of  his  women,  by  a  curious  illusion,  he  wished  to 
make  VESTA  types:  Henriette,  Elise,  Elmire, 
Psyche,  Alcmene;  and  only  little  by  little,  in  spite 
of  himself,  it  is  said,  did  he  consent  to  let  them 
slip  toward  the  false  and  coquettish:  Celimene, 
Angelique,  and  Beline.  La  Grange  long  imper- 
sonated his  Lelies,  his  Valeres,  his  Horaces,  his 


272  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Cleantes,  his  Erastes,  his  Leandres,  his  Clitandre, 
his  Cleonte  and,  above  all,  his  Don  Juan.  Baron 
came  later  to  double  the  roles  dedicated  to  the 
eternal  comic  VENUS:  Myrtil,  I'Amour  and  Octave 
in  the  FOURBERIES.  The  insufficiency  of  Be j art 
(Don  Louis,  Madame  Pernelle)  obliged  the  Master 
to  assume  —  besides  the  MERCURIES,  his  ordinary 
roles  (Mascarille,  Miron,  Sosie,  Scapin,  etc.)  — 
the  jealous,  tyrannical  and  grumbling,  the  dotards, 
the  derided  and  the  deceived  (JUPITER,  VULCAN, 
NEPTUNE):  the  Sganarelles,  Arnolphe,  Georges 
Dandin,  Don  Pedro,  Orgon,  Harpagon,  Alceste, 
Chrysale,  Argan.  He  had  even  to  substitute,  in 
the  foolishly  majestic,  for  Thorilliere,  to  whom 
fell  the  JUPITERS,  and  who  incarnated  Geronimo, 
Arbate,  Philinte,  Hali,  Jupiter  in  AMPHITRYON, 
Dorante  in  the  BOURGEOIS  GENTILHOMME,  and 
the  King  in  PSYCHE.  Another  Jupiter,  that  of 
PSYCHE,  fell  to  Croisy,  but  that  actor  was  better 
suited,  by  his  sombre  visage,  to  ill-tempered  and 
pedantic  types,  odious  or  ridiculous  (APOLLO- 
VULCAN):  Metaphraste,  Vadius,  Lysidas,  Mar- 
phurius  the  Master  of  Philosophy,  Oronte  of  the 
sonnet,  Dimanche,  Harpin,  Sotenville.  The  MARS 
of  the  company  was  De  Brie:  La  Rapidre,  the 
Commissioners,  the  Guards,  the  Master  of  Arms, 
etc.  The  joyous  CERES  blossomed  in  Madeleine 
Bejart:  Marinette,  Marotte,  Lisette,  Frosine, 
Dorine;  the  DIANAS  belonged  to  Mile  de  Brie: 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       273 

Celie,  Lucile,  Madelon,  Climdne,  Agnes,  Eliante, 
Daphne,  Claudine  and  Mathurine.*"  Mile  du  Pare 
was  for  long  the  MINERVA:  Cathos,  Climdne,  the 
formal  Marquises,  the  prudes  like  Arsino6;  sh< 
did  not  live  to  play  the  FEMMES  SAVANTES. 

It  would  not  be  impossible  for  some  Cuvier  of 
the  mimic  art  to  reconstitute,  by  means  of  the 
characters  of  Shakespeare  or  Plautus,  the  physiog- 
nomies, the  roles  and  abilities  of  their  actors, 
who  likewise  were  but  the  organs,  but  the  mem- 
bers of  the  magnified  person  of  the  poet. 

In  Shakespeare,  VESTA  appears,  in  religion,  as 
Sister  Isabella,  and  in  the  home  as  Helena,  Her- 
mione,  Catherine  of  Aragon;  by  a  change  of 
sex  we  have  Friar  Laurence,  Horatio,  etc.  JUNO 
animates  Apemantus,  Jacques,  Ligarius,  Margaret 
of  Anjou,  Queen  Constance,  and  Leontes,  Post- 
humus  and  Othello.  The  Satanic  Neptune  is 
expressed  in  King  John,  Hamlet's  uncle,  Wolsey, 
Macbeth,  Lady  Macbeth,  Shylock,  Pandarus  and 
Polonius.  MINERVA  directs  Imogen  and  Rosa- 
lind, inspires  Beatrice  and  Portia,  Antony  in 
JULIUS  CAESAR,  Mercutio  and  even  Autolycus. 
VENUS  appears  in  Cleopatra  and  Cressida;  APOLLO 
reigns  over  Hamlet  as  over  the  antique  Orestes, 
over  Lear  as  over  (EDIPUS  AT  COLONUS,  and  even 
Timon;  in  the  comedies  he  excites  the  passions  of 
Holofernes  and  of  the  young  Ferdinand.  Do  we 


274  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

not  recognize  MERCURY  in  Maria  and  in  Puck; 
then,  degraded  by  a  mingling  with  Juno,  in  Ther- 
sites  and  lago?  Of  JUPITERS  Shakespeare  pre- 
sents few  save  in  the  far-away  Julius  Caesar, 
Timon  (in  the  beginning)  or  Oberon;  I  willingly 
conclude  that  he  lacked  interpreters  rather  than 
models.  It  is  not  thus  with  CERES;  his  actor 
represented  these  when  female  characters  (such 
as  the  MERRY  WIVES,  Juliet's  nurse,  the  hos- 
tesses, etc.)  as  when  males:  Falstaff,  Sir  Toby 
and  the  buffoons  like  Falconbridge  or  the  Fool 
in  LEAR.  It  is  curious  that  the  comic  VULCAN 
—  everywhere  most  numerous  —  appears  on  the 
Shakespearean  stage  only  in  Menelaus  in^  TROILUS, 
while  the  "devoted"  type  is  present  in  Pauline, 
Gloster  and  Pisanio.  His  MARS  actors  could 
play  the  women  (Katherine  THE  SHREW)  as  well 
as  the  savage  hired  murderers  of  KING  JOHN, 
MACBETH,  etc.,  or  the  boasters  like  Parole  or 
Ajax.  But  the  DIANA  of  the  troupe  must  have 
been  indeed  poetic  to  incarnate  Juliet,  Desdemona 
and  Ophelia! 

In  Plautus,  likewise  actor  as  well  as  author, 
VESTA  bears  the  names  of  Eunomia,  Myrrhine 
and  Peristrate,  and,  in  the  masculine,  Eutycus 
and  Sagaristion;  JUNO  only  that  of  Antiphon; 
NEPTUNE  that  of  Euclion  on  the  one  hand,  and, 
in  the  darker  roles,  the  names  of  Cappadox, 
Dordale,  Lycus,  Ballion  or  Labrax.  MINERVA 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OP  PSYCHOLOGY       276 

furnishes  little  but  Simia  and  the  little  Pegnion; 
VENUS,  the  Bacchis,  Gymnasia,  Erotia,  Pasi- 
compsa,  Philocomasia,  Philematia,  Delphium, 
Lemniselene,  Adelphasia,  Thais,  etc.  APOLLO 
brings  the  passionate  lovers:  Agorastocles,  Cali- 
dore,  Lysiteles,  Pleusidippides,  Diabolus,  Argy- 
rippes,  Stratippocles  and  Charinus;  he  gives,  too, 
beside  the  pedants,  his  famous  Cooks  of  THE 
MERCHANT,  CASINA,  PSEUDOLUS  and  the 
AULARIA.  MERCURY  is  incarnated  in  the  traitor 
Stalagme  and  in  Geta,  Sophoclidiscus,  Chrysale, 
Chalinus,  Lampadion,  Toxile,  Milphion  and  all 
the  cunning  slaves.  An  actor  of  JUPITERS  seems 
to  have  been  lacking  in  the  company,  for  the 
good-nature  of  Hegion,  of  Lysimachus,  of  Peri- 
plectomenes  relates  them  rather  to  some  CERES 
actor  already  charged  with  Calliphon,  Micion, 
Philton,  Callicles,  and  various  joyous  roles  in  the 
Masques.  His  VULCAN  interpreted  the  slaves, 
simple  and  limited,  such  as  Syra,  Crocotia,  or 
Gripus,  Parmenion,  Trachalion,  Stratilax,  Tyn- 
darus,  Messenion,  Grumion,  Simon,  Demones, 
Charmide  and  Chorion,  even  the  Dotards  derived 
from  the  imbecile  Etruscan  Papus:  Theuropides, 
Periphanes,  etc.  His  MARS  played  Cleomachus, 
Antemonides  and  THE  BRAGGART  SOLDIER.  He 
must  have  had  two  DIANAS  among  his  interpreters, 
to  present  Philenia,  the  daughter  of  Saturion, 
Thelestis,  Silenia,  the  unfortunate  Philippa,  and 


276  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

Panegyris,    conjointly   with    Pinacis    and    Ptole- 
mocratia  or  the  timid  Phedrome. 

Again  we  have  the  12  gods,  under  their  quad- 
ruple hypostasis  —  masculine  and  feminine,  tragic 
and  laughable  —  in  the  novels  of  Balzac,  for 
example. 

His  Crevel,  a  conceited  ninny,  mayor  of  a  Pari- 
sian ARONDISSEMENT,  his  notary  Lupin,  his  Phileas 
Beauvisage;  the  haughty  Delphine  de  Nucingen, 
the  elder  Madame  de  Portenduere,  the  respectable 
Marquis  d'Esgrignon,  the  first  Madame  Matifat, 
the  beneficent  and  venerable  Madame  de  la 
Chanterie;  his  numerous  Maecenases  (Anselme 
Popinot,  the  Marquis  di  Negro,  the  Due  de  Ver- 
neuil,  etc.)  —  do  they  not  proceed  from  the  lofty 
and  protecting  Jupiter?  His  prodigal  and  vicious 
Marquis  de  Salleneuve,  the  Marquis  de  Rouvre, 
Savinien  de  Portendudre,  Georges  Marest,  Diard 
the  gamester,  Plissoud  the  toper,  the  gay  Mes- 
dames  Vermut  and  Fontanien,  Palferine  (on  one 
side  at  least),  the  careless  Merle,  Oscar  Husson 
and  Vatel,  his  drunkards  (Chardin  senior,  Ver- 
michel,  the  lazy  Cantinet),  the  glutton  Bargeton, 
the  more  delicate  Montriveau  and  Montpersan 
or  the  abbe  Gondrand,  the  egoist  Vicomte  de 
Beauseant,  even  the  gross  Agathe  Picquetard  or 
the  vulgar  Ursule  in  CESAR  BlROTTEAU,  —  do 
not  all  these  recall  our  CERES  type? 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       277 

I  need  not  continue.  But  the  HUMAN  COMEDY 
furnishes  a  world  in  itself.  It  has  supplied 
examples  for  almost  all  the  important  subdivisions 
of  our  Classification,  and  it  leaves  nothing  to  be 
desired  but  the  perfecting  of  some  few  among 
these  examples. 

The  richness  of  this  work  is  truly  unique. 
Beside  Balzac,  how  many  illustrious  authors  show 
an  astonishing  poverty  in  their  creations!  When 
one  of  the  12  principal  ARfiTES  is  found  to  be 
altogether  missing,  the  case  becomes  serious. 

The  antique  Olympus  perished,  as  I  have  inti- 
mated, through  failure  to  achieve  a  chastely 
sentimental  Diana,  for  the  new  faith  succeeded  in 
entering  through  that  breach.  The  same  lacuna, 
symmetrically,  must  have  existed  at  heart  in 
each  of  the  great  gods,  whence  their  increasing 
corruption  and  insensibility,  in  the  name  of 
which  the  men  from  the  East  attacked  them 
upon  their  altars  and  in  the  hearts  of  their  fol- 
lowers, whom  they  recalled  to  the  complete  and 
primitive  Ideal. 

Everywhere  this  law  asserts  itself:  to  the 
absence  or  inferior  development  of  a  character- 
type,  of  a  "god,"  of  a  line  important  to  the  equi- 
librium of  the  human  total,  there  corresponds  a 
similar  absence  or  inferior  development  of  some- 
thing answering  to  that  "line  of  ARfiTB"  in  all 


278  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

other  characters,  since,  at  a  certain  depth,  there 
should  be  found  in  each  the  conception  of  the 
complete  man. 

Thus  the  absence  of  the  JUPITER  type  in  Plautus, 
of  the  CERES  type  in  Corneille,  of  the  MINERVA 
type  in  Zola  explains  why,  in  each  of  their  crea- 
tions, some  one  spot  gives  forth  a  hollow  sound 
and  shows  a  puffed  and  exaggerated  aspect,  — 
the  mask,  in  reality,  of  a  vacancy. 

Ill  —  VACANCIES  TO  BE  FILLED 

How  should  the  author  have  proceeded  to  fill 
these?  We  have  already  seen.  He  would  have 
had  only  to  complete  his  series  of  characters;  he 
would  thus  have  studied  man  complete,  not 
forgetting  one  of  his  essential  organs,  one  of  his 
possible  general  "attitudes,"  which  is  to  say  one 
of  the  characters  called  individual  because  this 
attitude  is  therein  habitually  accentuated,  and 
shows  always  this  ARfiTE. 

The  shrouding  of  this  or  that  ARfiTE  in  shadow 
should  never  be  a  complete  suppression.  The 
writer,  if  he  wishes  to  make  his  work  harmonious 
and  true,  a  chorus  of  the  divine  types,  should 
no  more  mutilate  his  study  of  life,  of  man  com- 
plete, or  that  of  a  "special  character"  when  he 
detaches  it,  than  the  great  artist  forgets  the 
existence  of  aspects  painted  by  his  predecessors, 


PERSPECTIVE  IN  MATTERS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY       279 

although  the  style  of  his  own  work  may  be  novel 
and  revolutionary.  The  total  subsists,  although 
the  parts  emphasized  may  not  be  the  same. 

It  is  the  imitators,  the  mediocrities,  the  sec- 
tarians who,  in  literature  as  in  art  —  and  else- 
where —  fail  to  distinguish,  in  the  shadows  where 
they  lurk,  the  parts  not  clearly  in  evidence,  who 
forget  or  deny  these,  who  despise  or  pretend  to 
abolish  them. 

Thus  the  work  they  produce  is  but  that  of  a 
school,  a  party,  a  fashion  or  a  sect.  They  pre- 
sent, instead  of  a  profile  in  relief,  a  mere  flat 
silhouette;  instead  of  a  face,  a  mask;  instead  of  a 
human  being,  divinely  supple,  but  a  puppet  of 
limited  and  mechanical  gestures. 

The  style  of  the  Masters,  I  repeat  once  more, 
has  nothing  in  common  with  these  caricatures 
and  partial  characters. 

They  suppress  nothing,  even  in  their  boldest 
condensations  of  the  eternal  Proportions  of  the 
soul.  They  know  that  the  soul  —  in  this  respect 
differing  from  the  body,  and  armed,  we  might 
say,  for  infinite  life  —  has  but  one  form,  and  that 
form  complete,  —  a  veritable  image  of  the  Divine. 

These  sublime  Proportions  the  Masters  put, 
with  all  the  art  whose  principal  secrets  I  have 
just  revealed,  in  a  new  "Perspective," — new 


280      THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

because  the  point  of  view  of  these  Masters  is 
new,  and  because  the  attitude  given  by  them  to 
their  models  is  also  new.  Far  from  diminishing 
or  mutilating  individuality,  they  each  time  unveil 
and  bring  into  light,  supported  by  the  organism 
in  its  entirety,  some  hitherto  unknown  side. 
Of  these  mysteries,  nevertheless,  369  remain  to 
be  revealed. 


Conclusion 

The  369  unused  types  which  we  have  discovered 
in  the  course  of  this  classification  represent  unex- 
plored regions  in  the  soul  of  each  one  of  us.  Open, 
ing  these  regions  in  the  individual  as  in  Humanity, 
we  complete  the  geography  of  the  Soul. 

We  maintain  nevertheless,  like  parallels  of 
latitude  and  longitude,  its  Duodenary  Proportions. 
These  we  have  found  in  all  life,  in  everything 
which,  like  ourselves,  is  Rhythm.  We  see  them 
everywhere  in  art  and  in  poetry:  epic  (Song  of 
Izdhubal,  Homeric  Poems,  ^Eneid,  etc.)  or  tragic 
(in  China,  Rome,  France,  etc.)  of  all  ages,  in 
the  cadences  of  all  known  verse-forms,  —  as  well 
as  in  the  movements  of  history  (comparative 
heredity,  law  of  four-century  periods)  and  in 
theogonies. 

We  have  just  re-encountered  them  enclosed  by 
the  indispensable  lines  with  which  a  La  Bruydre, 
a  St.  Bernard,  a  Seneca  or  a  Theophrastus  encircle 
their  figurines;  we  have  found  them  as  unmis- 
takably in  the  silhouettes  of  dramatic  or  literary 
heroes ;  we  have  followed  the  pencils  of  the  Masters 
putting  them  into  Perspective. 

An  entire  volume  would  be  necessary  to  follow 
the  application  of  this  Perspective  by  each  one 


282  THE  ART  OF  INVENTING  CHARACTERS 

of  them.     But  I  have  fulfilled  the  triple  promise 
made  at  the  beginning  of  this  book: 

1st,  to  reduce  each  Character  to  elements 
whose  combinations  suffice  (the  systems  hereto- 
fore contradictory  being  reconciled)  to  recon- 
stitute the  most  complex  personality; 

2nd,  to  classify  methodically  all  the  figures  of 
history,  legend  and  poetry,  taken  from  the  most 
widely  separated  countries  and  centuries,  in 
groups  less  and  less  dense,  which  is  to  say  more 
and  more  closely  approaching  individuality; 

3rd,  to  count  and  measure  exactly  the  lacunae 
in  our  literary  creations  or  psychological  obser- 
vations, and  to  fill  them  with  an  equal  number 
of  characters,  —  whose  proportions,  according  to 
promise,  I  have  likewise  sketched. 

And  while  we  have  seen  issuing  from  this  patient 
labor  several  future  structures  already  well  begun, 
—  those  of  Comparative  Heredity,  the  Rhythms 
of  History,  the  mathematical  laws  of  narrative 
and  dramatic  Composition,  a  theory  of  Compara- 
tive Literature,  Comparative  Biography,  modern- 
ized Rhetoric,  Universal  Versification,  —  we  have 
had  the  certainty  of  building,  for  the  first  time, 
a  veritable  "New  Science,"  whose  rules  are  not 
sentimental  but  definite  and  exact:  the  SCIENCE 
OF  THE  HUMAN  HEART. 


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Return  this  material  to  the  library 

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